House of Mirrors
by ShortyBoss
Summary: There are many different universes in the multiverse. Universes where the Earth has been destroyed, and ones where we all live in peace and harmony. In one universe, there are heroes, the Titans. In another, they are ruthless criminals known as the Tyrants. Those two universes have collided before, and they're going to meet again. Rated T for graphic violence.
1. Prologue

Hey guys. Guess what? Here's my next big multi-chapter story! Woohoo!

This story is expanding on the events that happened in Wrong Place, Wrong Time. I would recommend you read that now, before I start posting spoilers for Wrong Place, Wrong Time in this story. Anyway, this story is about the Teen Tyrants, evil versions of the Teen Titans from an alternate universe. I'll be introducing several new Tyrants, so at the end of each chapter, I'll post a little section that lists the new Tyrants, and who they are counterparts of. I may also introduce heroic versions of some of the villains from the show, just to spice things up a little.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing to do with Teen Titans, Warner Brothers Animation, Cartoon Network, or DC Comics. Now, with that out of the way, let's get on with the show, shall we?

* * *

**Teen Titans: House of Mirrors**

**Prologue**

Arsenal took aim at the prison guard with his crossbow and squeezed the trigger. The crossbow bolt flew straight and true, piercing the guard through the chest. His target collapsed, dead, and his partner raised his pistol, looking around warily, trying to find the shooter. Arsenal pulled himself back into his hiding place as he reloaded his crossbow. A yellow blur sped down the streets as Inertia ran up to the second guard. Inertia vibrated his hand at high speed and rammed it into the guard's head, shaking his hand violently and scrambling the guard's brain, killing him. Alarms went off and guards raced outside. Arsenal broke cover and fired, killing another guard and drawing the fire off the rest. He ducked down behind cover again to reload. Pipes burst out from the road as Typhoon raised the water up. Typhoon gestured, and the water flew over to the guards, enveloping their heads. The guards tried to pull their heads out of the water-bubbles, but it was no use. Eventually, they could hold their breath no longer and collapsed unconscious. As they fell unconscious, they instinctively breathed in, inhaling the water that would soon drown them as their lungs flooded. Typhoon had missed a guard, and the survivor took aim at the Atlantean criminal. Behind him, Wasp grew back to her normal size and rammed her stingers into his back. The sharp weapons stabbed into him, and Wasp pressed down on the triggers, sending electricity flowing into the guard. The electricity caused the guard's muscles to spasm as he was electrocuted.

The doors to the Jump City Prison had slammed shut after the guards had left to fight. As Wasp finished off the last guard, Curse walked up to the door and snapped her fingers, causing a pink shockwave to shoot out from her hand and envelop the door. The door immediately began to rust, and soon, all that was left was a small pile of red dust that was blown away in the wind. Gunfire started up as the guards inside the prison opened fire. Crimson dropped down from the sky and raised her hands, forming a glowing red barrier in front of her. Joto landed behind her, his exposed head and arms wreathed in flames, and thrust his hands through the barrier, sending a column of flame down the hall. The guards screamed as they were burnt to death. Joto let the flames die, and Crimson collapsed the barrier she had created. Inertia, Curse, Arsenal and Wasp ran inside, while the others waited outside, covering their backs.

* * *

Richard Grayson shielded his face with his arm as the door to his cell resonated until it shook itself apart. Once the dust settled, he saw a figure dressed in dark green standing in the doorway.

"Inertia," said Grayson. "It's been a while."

"It has indeed," replied the speedster. "We figured you guys were getting bored in here."

Grayson stood up. "You've managed to avoid the Brotherhood of Justice so far?"

Inertia nodded. "Once we get you guys out of here, Vox will get us to our headquarters."

"How much time do we have to spare?" asked Grayson.

"Not much," said Inertia. "But I did have enough time to find these."

Inertia held out his hands. In his left was a utility belt full of weapons. In his right hand, he held a red, featureless helmet with two blank eye sockets. Grayson buckled the utility belt around the waist of his prison jumpsuit, and slipped the helmet onto his head. With the helmet in place, he reached into his belt and pulled out two bird-a-rangs and connected them, causing hidden mechanisms to form a sharp sword. A feral grin spread across his face, hidden by the helmet.

"Look out, world," he growled. "I'm back in the Red Hood."

* * *

The door to Komand'r's cell crumbled, and a woman with pink, cat-like eyes and pink hair, styled into a pair of horns, walked into the cell.

"About time you showed up, Curse," said Komand'r.

"Give me a break, Blackfire," said Curse, snapping her fingers. The electronic locks in her handcuffs snapped, and the heavy metal device fell to the floor with a loud clang. With her hands free, Komand'r ripped the metal headband off her head and tossed it aside. Komand'r's eyes glowed a fierce purple as she charged up her starbolts.

"What happened to the Jewel of Charta?" asked Curse.

"It was destroyed," said Blackfire quickly. "I'll explain later. Right now, let's just get out of here."

* * *

**SYSTEMS REBOOT: COMPLETE**

**WEAPONS SYSTEMS: DISABLED**

**MOVEMENT FUNCTIONS: OPTIMAL**

**POWER SUPPLY: 57% AND RISING... 64% AND RISING... 71% AND STABILISING...**

**POWER SUPPLY: 71% AVAILABLE**

**AUDIO SENSORS: ONLINE**

**TACTILE SENSORS: ONLINE**

**VISUAL SENSORS: ONLINE**

**TIME SINCE DEACTIVATION: 3 YEARS, 18 DAYS, 4 HOURS, 11 MINUTES, 37.56 SECONDS**

Gadget's red circuitry lit up as power returned to its systems.

"Diagnosis: Weapons systems are in need of reactivation," it droned.

"All right, give me a second," whispered a voice. Gadget recognized it as belonging to Karen "Wasp" Beecher. The robot's sensors told it that her hands were fiddling with the wires in his upper back and shoulders. She connected a wire to its proper place and closed the panel in its back.

"There," she said. "How's that?"

Gadget raised its right arm, transforming it into its weapon of choice, the sonic cannon.

"Diagnosis: Sonic cannons fully functional," Gadget droned. "Missile launchers inoperable."

"I'll fix them later," said Wasp. "Right now we have to go."

"Statement: An excellent strategy." Gadget paused as it finished its final systems checks. "Query: Did you use your stingers to reactivate my power cells?"

"Yeah," said Wasp. "What about it?"

"Statement: Thank you," replied the robot.

"You're welcome," said Wasp, in a similar, mechanical tone. "Now let's _go!_"

* * *

Garfield Logan walked out of his cell, stepping through the hole that had recently been made.

"Beast," said Arsenal, resting his crossbow on his shoulder. "Ready to blow this joint?"

"I've been ready for years," said the green-skinned man. "Who else is here?"

"Inertia, Curse and Wasp are rescuing the others, and Soviet, Joto, Crimson, Typhoon, the Speedster Twins and Vox are outside," said Arsenal. "I think reinforcements are on their way; we have to move."

* * *

Arsenal was wrong. The reinforcements were not on their way; they had already arrived. Soviet flew above the team of policemen, hurling radioactive fire down at them. The Russian criminal dropped down amongst the policemen, and started slinging radioactive fire in all directions. Crimson was also in the air, firing red blasts of energy from her hands. As the policemen started getting their range and their bullets started passing too close, Crimson created a shield around herself. She maintained the shield until the police stopped to reload. Once the gunfire stopped, she turned the shield into a massive blade, and waved her arms, swinging the blade through the policemen and slicing them open. Typhoon was on the ground, using his natural Atlantean strength to snap the back of a policeman. He lashed out with the serrated hook on his right hand, slicing open another policeman's throat. He pointed the hook at another policeman, and flexed a muscle in the stump. This triggered a small switch that caused the hook to shoot out on a grappling line. The hook was sent flying and pierced the ribcage of Typhoon's target. Typhoon ran towards the dead body and yanked the hook out. With the hook out, Typhoon swung his arm, using the freed hook like a flail. Joto stood some distance away from him, hurling fireballs at the policemen. There was a red and white blur as the Speedster Twins raced past. Their hands were linked, as they could only use their powers when they were touching each other. While they could not use their superspeed to vibrate through solid objects, they could still move fast enough to do severe damage to people that they hit, as was attested by the policemen killed through blunt force trauma to the head. Vox opened his mouth and pressed a button on the voice-box on his throat. A loud piercing wail rose up, causing the policemen in range to scream in pain as their eardrums ruptured.

"Vox!"

Vox turned towards the prison, and saw Arsenal, Inertia, Curse, Wasp, Red Hood, Blackfire, Beast and Gadget running outside.

"Get us out of here!" yelled Arsenal.

Vox nodded, and opened his mouth again, pressing a different button on his voice-box. This time, instead of a shriek, there was a trumpet-like note, and a blue-ringed portal opened up.

"Tyrants!" yelled Red Hood, re-establishing his role as leader. "It's time for us to leave!"

Each of the members of the criminal organisation known as the Tyrants bolted towards the portal, racing through. Joto and Typhoon were the last two through. Typhoon created a ball of water and lobbed it into the air, and Joto sent a fireball into the ball of water, superheating the water into a cloud of steam. Once the steam cleared, the portal had closed, and the Tyrants were gone.

* * *

**Who's Who:**

Arsenal (Roy Harper): Counterpart to Red Arrow (Roy Harper)

Inertia (Wally West): Counterpart to The Flash (Wally West)

Typhoon (Garth): Counterpart to Tempest (Garth)

Wasp (Karen Beecher): Counterpart to Bumblebee (Karen Beecher)

Curse (Lorraine Moore): Counterpart to Jinx (Lorraine Moore)

Crimson (Toni Monetti): Counterpart to Argent (Toni Monetti)

Joto (Isaiah Crockett): Counterpart to Hot Spot (Isaiah Crockett)

Red Hood (Richard Grayson): Counterpart to Nightwing (Richard Grayson)

Blackfire (Komand'r): Counterpart to Starfire (Koriand'r)

Gadget (Victor Stone): Counterpart to Cyborg (Victor Stone)

Beast (Garfield Logan): Counterpart to Changeling (Garfield Logan)

Soviet (Leonid Kovar): Counterpart to Red Star (Leonid Kovar)

The Speedster Twins: Counterparts to Más y Menos

Vox (Mal Duncan): Counterpart to The Herald (Mal Duncan)

* * *

As you can see, there are several new Tyrants, and yes, they really are evil versions of the Teen Titans from the show. I know, in Wrong Place, Wrong Time, that I said that the Tyrants were different people from the Titans. However, that idea was not set in stone at the time, and was just what was bouncing around in my head. After some more thought, I decided to change that, and make them evil versions of the characters we all know and love. That should make things a lot more interesting.

Oh, and yes, since we are dealing with evil Titans, there is going to be quite a body count, thanks to the Tyrants. That sort of thing tends to happen when the bad guys are on the loose. This story is rated T for a very damn good reason.

I'll probably update sometime soon (maybe). I will do my best to write this story for as long as the muse is willing to cooperate, and for as long as study stays out of my way.

-ShortyBoss.


	2. Chapter 1

Yep, I'm back, and with a new chapter to boot. This one is mostly exposition and a little world-building, as well as a quick recap of the latter half of Wrong Place, Wrong Time, so if you haven't read that, do so now. This is your last warning. And, no, I am not selflessly self promoting at all. If I was, I'd be promoting the rest of my stories as well. :P

Disclaimer: Uh, nope, still nothing.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Red Hood looked around the warehouse. "_This_ is your hideout? Subtle, guys, _real_ subtle."

"This isn't our hideout," said Arsenal. "This is just a place where we can stop and check to see if there are any tracking devices on you four."

"Oh," said Red Hood weakly. "That's a good plan."

"That's what I thought," said Arsenal, pulling a scanner out of a pocket on his belt. "Now hold still; this won't take long." Arsenal ran the scanner across Red Hood's prison jumpsuit, then over his utility belt, and finally around the red helmet. "You're clean," Arsenal said.

He moved over to Blackfire, and did the same thing with her, lingering just a few seconds too long as he brushed the scanner (and his hand) across her breasts.

"Real mature, Arsenal," Blackfire said.

"I'm a man," he said nonchalantly. "You've got a nice rack: figure it out for yourself."

"Keep your hands to yourself or I'll smack you one," said Red Hood.

"Wow, you're cranky first thing in the morning," Arsenal muttered. "Your girlfriend's clean, too," Arsenal said to Red Hood. He then checked the other two Tyrants.

"The one-man zoo is clean," said Arsenal, stepping towards Gadget and running the scanner over the robot's shoulders. "The tin man, however, is not." The scanner started beeping, and Arsenal picked a small round device off the robot. "Any ideas what to do with this thing?" Arsenal asked, holding the tracer up.

"I'll take it," said Inertia, grabbing the tracer and racing off for a few seconds, before running back into view again.

"So where is it now?" asked Curse.

"On a plane bound for Hong Kong," said Inertia. "Maybe Paris, I didn't check."

"So, is that the only tracer?" asked Red Hood.

Arsenal finished running the scanner over Gadget's metallic body. "I think so," he said. "Now they won't be able to find our base."

"All right, then," said Crimson. "Vox? Be a dear and take us home."

Vox nodded, and pressed a button on his voice-box. He opened his mouth and let out a trumpet-like noise, opening a portal to the Tyrants current base of operations. The Tyrants stepped through, and Red Hood, Blackfire, Beast and Gadget got their first look at their new home.

"Cosy," said Beast.

"Query: What is the location of this base?" asked Gadget.

"It's one of the Pacific Islands," said Joto, his dark skin now visible after he had powered down. "We built it as a backup not long after you guys were captured."

Soviet nodded. "Once you five had been defeated, the Brotherhood of Justice attacked our Towers in Steel, Wing and Obsidian City," he said, the words sounding slightly mangled due to his thick Russian accent.

"So how many people got away?" asked Blackfire.

"We're all that's left," said Wasp. "Everyone else was captured."

Red Hood ran his eyes over the assembled Tyrants. Apart from his team, all the Tyrants from the Tyrants East had survived. Typhoon was from Atlantis, and had lost his hand in battle, replacing it with a sharp, serrated hook. He also had hydrokinetic powers. Wasp wore a suit of high-tech armour that allowed her to fly, and she had also had the ability to shrink in size thanks to training from Molecule. The Speedster Twins were from Guatemala, and, while they understood the language perfectly, they couldn't speak a word of English. When they were touching, they could run at high speeds. Arsenal was the only member of Tyrants East without superpowers. Instead, he used a crossbow and a variety of trick arrows, including explosive, incendiary, and electric arrows, as well as the usual pointy kind.

Soviet was the only member of the Tyrants North that had escaped. The Russian had been a soldier selected as the test subject of a super-soldier serum. The serum had the side-effect of giving him radioactive powers, which he could channel to fly and hurl blasts of radioactive fire at his opponents.

Three members of the Tyrants South had escaped. Crimson was the daughter of an American politician, and had grown up with her mother in New Zealand. She had the ability to create red energy constructs, as well as blast the same energy at her opponents. She also had the ability to fly. Joto was an African-American, and had the ability to wreathe himself in flames. He could then use this fire to attack his enemies. He could also superheat the air around him, which, combined with jets of flame from his arms, gave him a sort of pseudo-flight. Vox was also African-American, and had once had an item called the Gabriel Horn. The trumpet had allowed Vox to open up portals, but after an accident, the Horn and Vox himself had been fused. Vox could no longer speak without the aid of his voice-box, but he could use the voice-box to release piercing sonic wails, as well as channel the powers of his Gabriel Horn.

Two of the Tyrants that had not been part of a team were present. Inertia had been apprenticed to Johnny Quick, but had struck out on his own. Curse had been a member of the HIVE Hero Academy, but had grown disillusioned with the life of a hero, especially as her powers could only cause bad luck. Inertia had been the one who lured Curse over to the Tyrants. She soon found that she enjoyed a life of crime much more than being a respected hero, and enjoyed the fear she inspired in others even more.

"So we're all that's left, huh?" mused Red Hood. "No Shard, no Caveman, no Panther, no Animal, no Possession, no Jolt, no Bolt, no Quake, no Puffer, no Uragirimono, and no Rage."

"Yeah," said Inertia. "By the way, what happened with you guys? The Brotherhood couldn't have taken you down without _some_ sort of help."

"They did have help," said Red Hood bitterly. "_Our_ help."

Curse cocked her head to the side. "I don't get it."

"Clarification: The Brotherhood of Justice members Slade Wilson, Grant Wilson, Gemini, Dr Light and Terra were assisted by a group of heroes from another dimension called the Teen Titans," said Gadget. "Statement: Evidence suggests that the Teen Titans are our counterparts from that alternate universe. Extrapolation: In that universe, the Titans are heroic versions of us."

Gadget pressed a finger to his head, and projected an image onto a nearby wall from his eyes. The image was one of the battle that had taken place in the Jump City Tyrants Tower three years ago. Apart from the other members of the Tyrants, and the Brotherhood members Slade, Grant, Gemini and Dr Light, four other heroes were visible. Labels appeared next to the heroes.

"Extrapolation: From the evidence available at the time, I have tentatively identified each of these Titans, and who they are counterparts of."

The first label appeared next to the young man wearing red, yellow and green.

**ROBIN: COUNTERPART OF RED HOOD**

The second appeared next to the young woman with glowing green eyes and brilliant red hair. **STARFIRE: COUNTERPART OF BLACKFIRE**

The third was the green tiger biting into one of Gadget's spider drones.

**BEAST BOY: COUNTERPART OF BEAST**

The fourth to be labelled was the African-American with cybernetic implants all over his body.

**CYBORG: COUNTERPART OF GADGET**

"So where'd you get all this 'evidence'?" said Crimson, air-quoting around the word _evidence_, "And where did you get the time to put this stuff together?"

"Statement: Evidence was gathered by my sensors during the battle," said Gadget. "Continuation: My mental processor functions several times faster than your simple organic brain, allowing me to collate the data and compose this information in mere seconds."

"All right, enough with the boasting," said Red Hood. "The point is that these guys helped the Brotherhood against us. The only ones not here are Rage, Rage's counterpart, and Terra. Rage's counterpart—"

"Interruption: Rage's counterpart is named Raven, according to data collected during the battle," said Gadget.

"Okay," said Red Hood. "_Raven_ and Terra were after that Killowat guy who ended up in our town. Rage went after them, and during that fight, they killed Rage."

Inertia's jaw dropped. "You've got to be fucking kidding!" he yelled.

Blackfire shook her head. "He's not. From what the prison guards told me, Terra was the one who killed her. She formed a rock spear and stabbed Rage with it, pinning her to a wall."

Beast nodded. "I heard one of the guards say that Raven had healed Terra, and that Terra went into a relapse when she saw Rage."

"So, Rage broke Terra's mind, her counterpart Raven did a quick fix on Terra, Terra snapped again when she saw Rage, breaking so hard she _killed_ her?! Is that what you guys are saying?" asked Wasp.

The Tyrants who had been at that fight nodded. "We don't know the full details ourselves, because we weren't actually there, and the EMP Dr Light used fried our security cameras. All we have are the rumours from the prison guards."

The room was quiet for some time. "So what are we going to do now?" asked Joto.

"We're going to get revenge on those Titans," said Red Hood.

"But how?" asked Curse. "You said they were from another dimension."

"Statement: I have spent the last few minutes devising a machine that will allow us to create a portal to the universe that the Titans reside in," droned Gadget. "Elaboration: Some of the parts I require will need to be stolen from LexCorp and Science and Technology Advanced Research Laboratories."

Blackfire nodded. "We can also go and free as many of the other Tyrants that we can."

"We can also cause mayhem in several cities," said Beast. "That way, the people will know we're back, and we can scare them."

Red Hood nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. You guys in?"

Each of the other Tyrants nodded.

"Then let's do it," said Red Hood.

* * *

**Who's Who:**

Shard (Nicole Weathers): Counterpart to Kole (Nicole Weathers)

Caveman (Gnarrk): Counterpart to Gnarrk

Panther (Rosabelle Mendez): Counterpart to Pantha (Rosabelle Mendez-Kovar)

Animal: Counterpart to Wildebeest

Possession (Joseph Wilson): Counterpart to Jericho (Joseph Wilson)

Jolt (Tavis Williams): Counterpart to Lightning (Tavis Williams)

Bolt (Gan Williams: Counterpart to Thunder (Gan Williams)

Quake (Brion Markov): Counterpart to Geo-Force (Brion Markov)

Puffer: Counterpart to Tramm

Uragirimono (Ryuko Orsono): Counterpart to Bushido (Ryuko Orsono)

Rage: Counterpart to Raven (Rachel Roth)

Slade Wilson: Counterpart to Slade

Grant Wilson: Counterpart to Ravager I (Grant Wilson)

Gemini (Laura De Mille): Counterpart to Madame Rouge (Laura De Mille)

Dr Light (Arthur Light): Counterpart to Dr Light (Arthur Light)

Terra (Tara Markov): Counterpart to Terra (Tara Markov)

* * *

Fun fact: Uragirimono is Japanese for traitor. It also sounds pretty cool, huh?

So, yeah, more Tyrants to be introduced, and the Tyrants are getting ready to come and visit. Oh dear... And technically, Slade, Grant and Terra aren't members of the Brotherhood of Justice. They are only allies of the Brotherhood, but they have full membership privileges anyway, so they might as well be members. The Tyrants really just classify any enemy that isn't a cop as a member of the Brotherhood.

Hopefully, I can get a bit of an alternating system going here, and switch between the Tyrants and the Titans universes between chapters. I don't know if I'll be able to keep that up for the whole story, though. Anyway, the next chapter will definitely feature the Titans, so stay tuned!

-ShortyBoss.


	3. Chapter 2

Groan. I hate being sick. I hate having to study. I hate being sick and having to study. But I'm sure you don't want to hear me whine. I'm sure you're more interested in the story down there.

Anyway, this chapter is diverting from the last chapter. We get to see what the Titans are up to at the moment, just for a change.

Disclaimer: I own my computer, and I own my USB stick, that's about it.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

Haly's International Travelling Circus. For the first ten years of his life, it had been his home. After the murder of his parents, he'd left the circus, and hadn't visited it in nearly twelve years. Now, the circus was setting up at the Jump City Fairground.

Nightwing sighed, and lowered his head. He was watching from a nearby building as the circus set up. Even from up here, he could still recognize Haly; even outside the ring, Haly's gestures were large and expansive, like any good ringmaster. The Big Top was still being set up, and Nightwing barely made out the trapeze. The trapeze had needed replacing after the old one had been damaged with acid and snapped. Just looking at it, Nightwing could hear the echoing snaps, the sickening thuds...

Nightwing shook his head to chase off the memories. A low growl of frustration escaped his lips. He knew the memories would haunt him for some time. Nightwing had made peace with his parents' death; he visited their graves on the day after the anniversary every year. However, there was still one loose end; Tony Zucco, the mob boss who had murdered his parents. Tony Zucco had gone into hiding after the murder, and had managed to avoid capture from both the police and from Batman, despite their best efforts.

Nightwing's hand had strayed to his belt. "What do you want, X?" he asked.

"Not gonna let me sneak up on you, huh?" asked the thief.

"Trained by Batman, remember?" said Nightwing.

"Yeah, that oughta look good on your résumé," said Red X.

Behind his mask, Nightwing rolled his eyes. "Funny," he said. "Seriously, though, what do you want?"

"Tony Zucco's on his way to Jump City," said Red X.

Despite Nightwing's best efforts, a small gasp escaped his lips, and his eyes widened with shock. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked, the barest quiver audible in his voice.

"Because he's the man who killed your parents when Haly wouldn't fork it over, and I think he's going to try and finish the job this time," said Red X. "Do you really want him to go free... Richard?"

Nightwing didn't bat an eyelid at the mention of his real name. "I guess I owe you for this, Jason," said Nightwing.

Red X was silent for a few seconds, before reaching up and pulling off his mask. While his eyes were hidden by a second domino mask, his dark red hair was still visible. His nose had obviously been broken in the past, and there was a scar on the centre of his forehead that ran past his hairline, and the hair over the scar had turned white.

"How long have you known who I am?" asked Jason "Red X" Todd.

"About... ten seconds, maybe?" said Nightwing. "But I've suspected it ever since you showed up."

"Surprised to see me?" asked Jason.

"A little," Nightwing admitted. "I know we never found a body, but it was the middle of winter. If you had been beaten as badly as the Joker had said, you would have frozen to death out there if someone else didn't finish you off."

"Well, I managed to escape the warehouse about five minutes before the bomb went off," said Jason. "If Joker had locked the door, I'd probably be dead now. I guess the explosion also wiped out my footprints."

Nightwing nodded. "According to the old man, the explosion had melted all the snow in the immediate area, and the fresh snow that was still falling and the winds would have obscured your tracks."

"Right. So, after I got out, I somehow managed to get to Dr Thompkins' clinic near Crime Alley," said Jason.

Nightwing knew the clinic, and the woman who owned it. Leslie Thompkins had been a friend of Bruce Wayne's father Thomas since the two went to medical school together. After Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder, Leslie had become a mother figure for the orphaned Bruce. She knew about his crime-fighting career, as much as she disapproved. She had opened a free clinic, the Thomas Wayne Memorial Clinic, in the slums of Gotham, close to Crime Alley. Bruce had visited her when he had received injuries that were beyond his or Alfred's considerable medical knowledge, or when he needed professional care.

"So why didn't Leslie ever say anything to the old man?" asked Nightwing.

"Because I asked her not to," said Jason. "After... what happened, I didn't want to go back to Batman. I was scared that it might happen again. So I asked Leslie to keep quiet. She understood, and once I was better, she helped me get out of Gotham."

"And you came to Jump City," said Nightwing, "broke into the Tower, most likely after the city was evacuated when Terra tried to kill us, and stole the Red X suit from its vault and became a master thief."

"Well, I had to pay the bills _somehow_," said Jason. "I grew up on the streets, remember? I was just putting my childhood skills to good use." Jason pulled on his Red X mask, hiding his face.

"Anyway, I figured you'd want to know about Zucco," he said, his voice filtered through the mask. "He's been avoiding capture for the last twelve years, and I thought you'd want to be the one who finally brought him in."

Nightwing nodded. "Thanks," he said simply.

Red X didn't reply, to Nightwing's complete lack of surprise; making a stealthy entrance or exit was the first thing Batman had taught them.

Nightwing reached into his belt, and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Bruce had given it to him last year, on the night the Titans had returned from Tamaran and he'd proposed to Kori. Bruce had said he'd written his theory on Red X's identity. Nightwing unfolded the note, and sure enough, in Bruce's messy scrawl, was a name: "Jason Todd". Nightwing whistled in admiration. Batman really _was_ the World's Greatest Detective.

* * *

Nightwing stepped back into the shadows near the animal cart. He watched as Zucco walked out of the ringmaster's tent, muttering something under his breath, followed by two of his thugs. As Nightwing started to move forward, something brushed against his shoulder. He whirled around, pulling a bird-a-rang out of his belt, but relaxed when he spotted what had touched him.

"Elinore?" he asked. "That you, old girl?"

The elephant trumpeted very softly, using her trunk to tousle his hair like she used to do when he was a child.

"Hey, stop that!" said Nightwing with a laugh, batting her trunk away. Elinore snorted, and looked at Nightwing soulfully.

"Yeah, I missed you, too, old girl," said Nightwing. He looked around quickly. Zucco and his men had almost made it to the Big Top. "Look, I'd love to talk to you, but I have to go now," he whispered, placing a hand on Elinore's face. "I can't let Zucco get away with murder any longer."

Elinore bobbed her head, and Nightwing took it as a sign that she understood. He let Elinore ruffle his hair one last time before he bolted over to the Big Top, making sure he was staying hidden.

"You two stay outside," said Zucco. "Make sure no-one comes in."

The two guards nodded, both pulling out pistols.

"Are you going to sabotage the trapeze again?" asked one of them.

"Of course he is," said the other. "It's the easiest way to make it look like an accident. Just remember to use your knife and not the acid; that was the big giveaway last time."

Zucco glared at the second guard. "If it wasn't for the fact that I've known you for so long, I'd clock you one for that."

"Sorry, boss," said the second guard.

"I'll accept your apology once we're done here," said Zucco. "Just don't let anyone in."

"Yes sir!"

Zucco walked inside, and Nightwing slowly pulled out a pair of bird-a-rangs. He waited a few seconds before he ran towards the guards and threw the bird-a-rangs. His aim was true, and he knocked the guns out of the hands of the two guards. Nightwing dropped down and swept his leg across, tripping one of the guards. The other guard tried to punch Nightwing, but Nightwing sidestepped the blow. As the guy's momentum carried him past, Nightwing delivered a sharp blow to the base of his neck, dropping him. The first guard had gotten back to his feet, and was running towards Nightwing. Nightwing backhanded him in the face without looking, and the guy dropped like a barrel of bricks. With the two thugs out of commission, Nightwing ran inside. He saw Zucco climbing one of the support struts, on his way up to the trapeze. He was moving slowly, and wasn't looking down. Nightwing started to climb a second support strut, leaping up the rungs. He managed to make it to the top before Zucco, and grabbed the trapeze on his side with his left hand, pulling out a bird-a-rang with his right. Zucco climbed to the top of his ladder, and unhooked the trapeze and brought it in closer to him, pulling out a knife. He brought the knife up to cut into the thick ropes—

—And dropped it as a silver and blue bird-a-rang knocked it out of his hand. Zucco also let go of the trapeze in his surprise, and it swung out into the void. Nightwing tightened his hold on his trapeze, and leapt out, swinging through the air. At the end of his arc, he let go, flying through the air and somersaulting one, two, three, four times. He straightened out and stretched out his arms, grabbing the free trapeze. His momentum carried him over to the other side of the ring, and he let go, landing on the platform Zucco was standing on.

"Wha—" asked Zucco in shock, but he was cut off as Nightwing punched him in the face. Zucco staggered back too far, and lost his footing, falling off the platform. Nightwing pulled out his grappling gun and fired, the line wrapping around Zucco, jolting him to a stop just before he hit the ground.

"What sort of circus freak are you?" asked Zucco as he dangled helplessly.

Nightwing gritted his teeth at the insult, and let go of the grappling gun. Zucco dropped a few feet, landing hard on the packed earth floor below. Nightwing grabbed the outer rails of the ladder, and slid down to the ground. Zucco tried to sit up as Nightwing walked up to him.

"Tony Zucco," said Nightwing quietly. "You are under arrest for the murder of John and Mary Grayson, twelve years ago."

Recognition flickered briefly in Zucco's eyes. "You're the... circus brat... from back then... aren't you? The one who... heard me talking... with Haly."

Nightwing didn't say anything. He just stood up and walked away.

Haly was standing at the entrance to the Big Top. "That was amazing," he said. "Your parents are finally at rest now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Nightwing.

"Oh, knock it off, son," said Haly. "You might be a lot older, but there are some things time can't change. Like the sight of a Grayson on the trapeze... or the sight of Richard Grayson performing a quadruple somersault."

Nightwing stopped. He didn't speak, so Haly kept talking.

"Look, Richard, I miss your parents too. Everyone who's still with us from back then misses them too. They were great trapeze artists... and they were good friends. They'd be so proud of you right now."

"Thanks, Haly," whispered Nightwing.

Haly took a deep breath. "I know this is probably a little sudden, but can I ask you a favour?"

Nightwing glanced over at Haly.

"Can you do one last performance for me?" asked Haly. "For old times' sake?"

* * *

Raven was sitting on the couch in the Titans Tower common room, reading a book. Changeling had morphed into a cat and had snuggled up next to her. Raven had wrapped one arm around him, and was idly drawing circles in his soft green fur. Jinx, Bumblebee and Starfire were on the other side of the couch, chatting. Cyborg was taking on the Flash in that racing game they loved to play. Cyborg was winning, but the Flash was giving him a good run for his money.

The door hissed open, and Nightwing walked in. Starfire floated over and gave him a kiss.

"You okay?" she asked.

Nightwing smiled. "I'm fine," he said.

"Did you get Zucco?" asked the Flash.

Nightwing nodded. "I got him. And I also got these." Nightwing held up his hand, revealing seven tickets to the circus. The Titans all grabbed one each, talking excitedly amongst one another, until Starfire noticed that Nightwing didn't have a ticket for himself.

"Didn't you get a ticket for yourself?" asked Starfire.

Nightwing shook his head. "I... I didn't really want to go," he said.

Starfire nodded. "I understand."

"So which show did you get us tickets to?" asked Cyborg.

"Tonight's show," said Nightwing. "You guys might want to get organised; it starts in an hour and a half."

The others nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" asked Starfire.

"Yeah," said Nightwing. "You guys enjoy yourselves, all right? I'll see you after the show."

* * *

Kori reached over and stole some of Victor's popcorn. She had enjoyed the show so much. It would have been perfect if Richard were here, though...

Ringmaster Haly stepped onto his podium.

"We used to have one of the greatest trapeze acts in the world," he said sadly. "John and Mary, the Flying Graysons. They were a family act... and they were good friends of mine. Unfortunately, they were killed almost twelve years ago. Their son, Richard, however, was spared that day. It's been twelve years since I last saw him. But, tonight, I have a special treat for you. For one night only, the last of the Flying Graysons! The one! The only! Richard Grayson!"

Kori gasped, and her eyes widened. The spotlight shone up to the ceiling, illuminating the platform. Standing there, in his father's old Flying Grayson outfit, was her husband Richard, waving at the crowd with a huge, dazzling smile on his face. He looked straight at her, and his smile got even wider. His grin was infectious; it wasn't long before she was grinning too. Richard grabbed the trapeze, and jumped, soaring through the air, giving the performance of a lifetime.

* * *

Yeah, I went there. I revealed who Red X is. Jason Todd. The second Robin. Red Hood in the mainstream comics. Beaten near death with a crowbar, then blown up. Of course, in my Titans headcanon, Jason survived, with the theory stated above. All I have to do is sort out a few more specifics.

As for the stuff about Nightwing taking on Tony Zucco, I drew a little inspiration from the B:TAS two-parter Robin's Reckoning, but most of it is my own story.

Next time, we go back to the Tyrants universe, and find out what they're up to...

-ShortyBoss.


	4. Chapter 3

Hey guys. Sorry I haven't updated in a few days; real life attacked. I've got a break now, so I'll submit this chapter real quick like.

Disclaimer: No real time to disclaim now, anyway, I did one at the start.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Arsenal looked down at the two guards through the scope of his recently acquired sniper rifle.

"So which one do you want?" he asked.

Red Hood took aim with his own sniper rifle. "I'll take the one on the right. You can have the guy on the left."

Arsenal nodded. He lined up the shot, levelling the rifle at the guard's head.

"On three," whispered Red Hood. "One... two... three."

Two loud cracks rang out almost simultaneously. The bullets sliced through the guards heads, sending chunks of flesh and bone in all directions. The guard on the left side of the entryway stayed standing for a few seconds, before collapsing. The guard on the right staggered backwards a few steps and slammed into the wall, sliding to the floor in an inhuman, almost boneless manner. The two snipers watched for well over a minute, waiting to see if any alarms had been triggered.

"Looks like nobody noticed," said Arsenal.

"Good," said Red Hood. He passed his sniper rifle to Arsenal. "I'm going to join the break in team. Stay here and snipe anyone in cop colours."

Arsenal nodded as he slung the spare rifle's strap over his shoulder. "Have fun."

The door exploded, destroyed by a barrage of purple starbolts. As prison guards rushed towards the entrance, Arsenal fired his sniper rifle, gunning down the guards. Red Hood had taken the pistols of the two guards, and had one in each hand, firing the pistols at the guards. Blackfire floated in the air, slinging a volley of starbolts at the prison guards. Soviet had joined her in the air, sending hot streams of red energy down at the guards. The guards took cover in the corridor, exchanging fire with the Tyrants. With the guards distracted in the front, Inertia ran in from the back, vibrating his molecules to pass through the walls. Once inside, he raced through, trying to find the prisoners he was after. He stopped in front of a cell with a clear, heavy-duty plastic door. Inside was a young man with messy reddish-orange coloured hair. His arms and legs were held apart by solid steel bands, and another solid steel band was locked around his waist, holding him in place. Inertia shook his hand at high speed and rammed it into the door. His hand shook fast enough to reach the resonant frequency of the plastic. The door started shaking and wobbling wildly. Eventually, the stress was too much, and the door was shaken apart. With the door gone, Inertia raced in and undid the metal bands holding the man prisoner.

"About time you got here," growled the freed prisoner. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd forgotten about me."

"We figured you'd still be waiting for us," said Inertia, running a scanner over the prisoner's body, searching for a tracker.

"You're clean," said the speedster.

"Good," said the prisoner. He shook his arms, stiff from being held in the same position for hours on end. He reached out, his eyes glowing yellow, and a column of earth shot up from the ground. He clenched his hand into a fist, and the column formed itself into a spear. He then thrust his arm forward, sending the rock spear across the hall and impaling the guard that was running towards them.

"Still got it," said Quake with a smirk.

"Good for you," drawled Inertia. "Now, do you have any idea where the Japanese guy is?"

Quake nodded. "I know where his cell is; follow me."

Quake ran through the prison, Inertia easily keeping up with him. Quake shot off down a side corridor, and stopped in front of a plain cell door.

"This it?" asked Inertia, stepping forward.

"This is it," said Quake, resting a hand on Inertia's hand and pulling him back. The speedster looked at the geomancer in shock. "Allow me," said Quake.

"Be my guest," muttered Inertia, stepping back to watch.

Quake's eyes flashed yellow, and he brought another column of dirt up through the steel door. He shaped the earth until it was a thin slab, then he rammed it into the cell door. The slab pierced the door, cutting it in two. Quake then broke the slab down the middle, and pushed the two halves apart, forcing the door open, revealing a man, sitting calmly on the uncomfortable lump that passed for a bed in prison.

"Uragirimono," said Quake. "We're escaping."

The Japanese man nodded, and walked out of his cell. Inertia ran off, arriving back a few seconds later with Uragirimono's sword. The Japanese man accepted the weapon gratefully.

"Come on, let's get out of here," said Inertia.

* * *

Red Hood had exhausted the ammunition in the two pistols he had stolen, and had thrown them aside several minutes ago. He pulled out an explosive disc and tossed it, aiming for a guard that had just popped out of cover. Red Hood's aim was true, and the disc exploded on impact, sending out a spray of blood, flesh and bone. Red Hood ducked out of the way and pulled out his communicator.

"How's it going in there, Inertia?" he asked.

"We're on our way out now," said Inertia. "Hold your fire; Uragirimono wants to finish off the guards at the front." Red Hood popped his head out, and saw Inertia and the two rescued prisoners standing behind the guards, Uragirimono's sword in the ready position.

"Copy," said Red Hood into his communicator. "Soviet! Blackfire! Stop shooting and get behind cover!"

The two Tyrants wisely heeded his advice, flying as fast as they could into what cover they could find. Uragirimono ran towards the guards, his sword flashing through the air, slicing through the guards. Prison guards screamed as they were gutted and maimed by the ancient weapon. Eventually, the screams stopped, a sign that Uragirimono's slaughter was over. When the other Tyrants popped back out of cover, they saw Uragirimono wiping the blood off his blade on the shirt of one of the guards. With the blade clean, Uragirimono started to return the sword to his belt, before realising he didn't have his scabbard.

Red Hood pulled out his communicator again. "Vox, we're done here. Take us home."

"Yes, sir," said Vox, speaking through the mechanical tones of his voice-box. A portal opened beside him, and Red Hood guided the others through.

* * *

Gadget was seated at a computer in the Tyrants Emergency Outpost when Red Hood, Soviet, Blackfire, Arsenal and Inertia returned from their rescue of Uragirimono and Quake.

"So, you guys are getting the band back together?" asked Quake.

"You could say that," said Red Hood.

"And what's the big picture look like?" asked Quake.

"Revenge," said Red Hood.

"Cool," said Quake. "I'm with you."

Red Hood merely nodded, and walked over to Gadget.

"What are you up to?" asked Red Hood.

"Explanation: I am guiding Wasp through the Science and Technology Advanced Research Laboratory in Steel City," Gadget droned. "A matter stabiliser has been shipped to Steel City for Doctor Raymond Palmer's matter reduction research."

"And, of course, they don't know that Dr Palmer is actually the size changing criminal Molecule," said Red Hood.

"Affirmative," said Gadget. "Statement: I contacted him earlier, and he is willing to give the part to us, but only if his old protégé is the one who accepts it from him."

Red Hood nodded slowly. Wasp's suit had been designed by Palmer, and used the same technology he used for his shrinking technology. He was an old friend of Wasp's, and had trained her in the use of her suit.

Gadget focused on the screen. The robot had connected to the visual sensors in Wasp's suit, and was viewing the data remotely as Wasp travelled through the air ducts. Most air ducts in S.T.A.R. Labs were not large enough to move through, but Wasp could easily avoid that problem by shrinking down to her smallest size, six inches.

The view shifted as Wasp flew out of the vent and hovered down, changing again as Wasp grew back to her normal size. Dr Palmer was clearly visible on-screen, and he turned to face Wasp. His lips moved, but Red Hood couldn't hear any noise. "Why...?" he began.

"Clarification: Wasp did not allow me access to the audio sensors of her suit," said Gadget. "We can only hear her if she contacts her via her communicator."

Wasp had apparently finished her conversation with her old mentor and picked up the matter stabiliser.

"Gadget, I'm done here," said Wasp, her voice catching Red Hood slightly by surprise. "I'll make my way back to the portal now."

"Acknowledged," said Gadget. "Statement: Do you still require my assistance?"

"No, I can handle myself from here," said Wasp. "I'll be back soon. And tell Red Hood that Molecule thinks he's a douche."

"The feeling's mutual, Wasp," said Red Hood. "Now get your ass out of there and back to base."

"Copy that, o Fearless Leader," said Wasp, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

* * *

No new characters this time. Anyone who has appeared in the flesh was spoken of in the last Tyrants chapter. To refresh your memories, Quake is the counterpart to Geo-Force, and Uragirimono is the counterpart to Bushido. If you can guess who Molecule is the counterpart to, I'll give you a free internet cookie. It shouldn't be too hard; I made it pretty obvious.

Anyway, next time, we'll be swinging back over to the Titans Universe to see what the heroes are up to at the moment. See you then.

-ShortyBoss.


	5. Chapter 4

Hey guys. Got some spare time at the moment, so I decided to whip up another chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Disclaimed. Boom.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Starfire soared over the streets of Jump City, using the starbolt energy around her fist to illuminate the night sky. She was the one on patrol tonight, and while things were usually pretty quiet, there was always someone crazy enough to try something. The patrol roster had been worked up by Nightwing, of course; after his time in both Gotham and Bludhaven, he didn't want to take any chances, even if Jump City's crime rate was much lower.

Something moving in her peripheral vision caught her attention. She turned her head, and spotted someone else in the air, hovering under their own power. Starfire couldn't make out any distinct features, but she recognized the purple glow around the figure's hands. The figure turned around and soared off, and Starfire shot off after her, following the person to the outskirts of the city. The figure landed on the roof of the abandoned observatory overlooking Jump City. The observatory had been Professor Chang's base of operations until it was destroyed during the Titans first encounter with Red X. After the battle in Paris against the Brotherhood of Evil, Chang had returned to Jump City and repaired the observatory. After he'd been arrested again, the place had fallen even further into disrepair.

Starfire set down on the roof of the observatory, her eyes glowing green as she formed a starbolt around her raised fist.

"What do you want?" asked Starfire angrily.

Blackfire raised her hands to show she wasn't ready to fight yet. "I just want to talk," she said soothingly. "For five, ten minutes. Then we can get back to killing each other."

Starfire's only reaction was to lock her face in an angry snarl. "Give me one good reason why I should trust you," she hissed.

Blackfire lowered her hands, and she sagged. "I can't," she whispered. "Not after what I've done to you."

Starfire's face softened. She lowered her arm, the starbolt energy dissipating harmlessly. "Why?" asked Starfire. "In the name of X'Hal, _why_?"

"Because I was selfish," said Blackfire. Her voice was filled with hatred, but none of it was directed at her estranged sister. "I was a cruel, cold-hearted monster. I told myself that everything I did was for the good of our people. I was wrong. I was lying to them... I was lying to myself."

Starfire started walking towards her. "Komand'r..." she whispered.

Blackfire sighed and looked away. "I'm not going to ask you to forgive me," she said. "There's no way you _could_ forgive me. I sold you and Ryand'r into slavery... I got Mom and Dad killed... I don't see how _anyone_ could forgive me for what I've done. But... for what it's worth..." Blackfire turned back to Starfire, her eyes brimming with tears, "...I'm sorry."

Starfire leapt at Blackfire, wrapping her arms around her sister in a massive hug, catching Blackfire by surprise. The black-haired Tamaranean gasped in shock, before she relaxed, and hugged her sister back.

"I forgive you," whispered Starfire.

Blackfire stepped back from the hug, her eyes wide with shock. "But—_how_? After all I've done to you... how can you forgive me?"

"You've changed, Komand'r," said Starfire. "If you'd told me this after your last scheme, I wouldn't have believed you. But you spent years in a Gordanian prison cell with Ryand'r. You've come to terms with what you've done, and you really are sincere."

Blackfire smiled as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "And you haven't changed a bit, Koriand'r," she said. "You can always see the good in people, can't you?" Blackfire lost her smile. "This doesn't really change anything, though. You disowned me, remember? Even if you can forgive me, you can't fix that."

A rather crafty grin made its way onto Starfire's face. "I disowned you by Tamaranean law and custom, that's true. But we weren't on Tamaran, were we? So it doesn't really count, does it?"

"Sneaky," said Blackfire approvingly. "Never thought you'd be the type to abuse a loophole."

"I was Grand Ruler for two years, remember? I had to know about this sort of thing," said Starfire.

"Thank you," whispered Blackfire, hugging her sister again.

"You know, when you first tried to hug me, I thought you were going to try and kill me," said Blackfire.

Starfire giggled. "Why would I do that?" she asked. "Anyway, even if I tried, I wouldn't have been able to."

"Why not?" asked Blackfire.

"My husband and your boyfriend would've stopped me," she said. "Isn't that right, boys?" asked Starfire, looking over her shoulder.

Frantic whispering broke out behind them.

"Oh, shit, she's on to us!"

"Well, don't just stand there, _run!_"

There were scampering noises as the two eavesdroppers ran away.

Blackfire laughed softly, but she sobered up quickly. "So you know I'm going out with Red X, huh?"

Starfire nodded. "Yes, I know."

"The next time we see each other, I'll probably be helping X with his latest heist," said Blackfire.

"That won't change anything between us," said Starfire. "We're still sisters... just like Nightwing and Red X are still brothers."

Blackfire smiled. "We're just one big, happy, fucked up family, aren't we?"

"The important word in that sentence is 'family'," said Starfire.

* * *

Nightwing slid down the side of the rocky slope that the observatory had been built on. Once he came to a stop, he rested his hands on his knees, panting.

Red X slid down next to him. "Well, that was fun," he said, rolling his eyes behind his skull-like mask.

Nightwing nodded in agreement. "At least we know those two aren't going to kill each other anymore," he said.

"Yeah," said Red X. "But I've got no idea how Star knew we were there."

"She knows you're with her sister," said Nightwing. "She obviously figured you'd want to protect Blackfire, and that you'd call me to stop Starfire if she did something crazy."

Red X looked at Nightwing funnily. "That's some crazy logic," he said.

"Well, it's either that, or she was just guessing," said Nightwing.

"I'm not sure which theory I like better," said Red X.

The two of them were silent for a few seconds.

"Hey, Jason," said Nightwing.

"What?" asked Red X.

"You could join the Titans, if you wanted to," said Nightwing. "Give up the stealing, be a hero again. We could use a guy like you."

"Thanks, but no thanks," said Red X. "I appreciate the offer, Dickybird, but I'd rather do my own thing. Don't get me wrong, I'll help out if it's something apocalyptic, but other than that, you're on your own."

"I won't be on my own," said Nightwing with a smirk. "I've got a whole team to back me up."

"You know what I mean," said Red X.

"Yeah," said Nightwing. "Well, I guess I'd better head back to the Tower. See you around, Jaybird."

"Is that payback for the whole Dickybird thing?" asked Red X sourly.

"Maybe?" said Nightwing.

Red X just rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Red X pressed a button on his belt, teleporting away, while Nightwing started to walk over to where he had left his motorcycle.

* * *

This chapter is a sorta-kinda sequel to Realisation, but where Realisation focused on Blackfire and Wildfire, this one focuses on Blackfire and Starfire, with a little bit of Nightwing and Red X being bros just because.

Next time, we'll be going back to the Tyrants universe, and I'll introduce even more Tyrants, so stay tuned!

-ShortyBoss.


	6. Chapter 5

Hey guys. Sorry for the lack of updates over the last week. In apology, I present another chapter of House of Mirrors. By the way, this one gets a little creepy.

Disclaimer: The new Teen Titans Go series that will air next year won't be a continuation of the old series. I'm honestly okay with that. That means I can keep on writing fanfiction without having to worry about any of my ideas being proven wrong.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

The young man crouched down out of sight. He was standing near the Obsidian City branch of S.T.A.R. Labs, watching as the employees started to walk in at the start of the working day.

Possession brushed light blonde hair out of his piercing green eyes with one hand, unconsciously rubbing the jagged scar across his throat with the other.

The stream of workers entering the building soon wound down to a trickle, but still Possession waited. Finally, there was an employee, all on his own. There was no one who else who would see what was about to happen; no one to raise an alarm.

Isabelle started to slow down from her run, patting down her pockets to make sure she had everything. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted a young man walking towards her. She looked at him and gasped. His blonde hair and green eyes would have been cute, maybe even beautiful, if not for two things. The first, and the most obvious, was the horrible scar across his throat. The second was the expression of angry determination on his face. Before she could say anything, his eyes changed. The whites of his eyes turned jet-black, and his irises turned an even brighter shade of green. She opened her mouth to scream—

—And Possession covered the distance between them in an instant, his body becoming immaterial as his body passed into hers and their minds melded. The woman realised what was happening to her, and tried to fight back… and just as soon as it had begun, the war for control was over. Isabelle blinked, trying to remember what had just happened. She would've sworn she'd seen someone. She looked around, but there was no sign of anyone. She shrugged, and pulled out her key-card and swiped it through the reader, unlocking the door to the laboratory. The guard at the front desk nodded at her, and she smiled and waved back. As she walked through the corridor, she slowed down, to give herself time to remember what she was supposed to do today. That's right; she had to get the tachyon converter for a friend. She opened one of the guard's cupboards, and grabbed his gun, just in case someone objected to her being there. Isabelle strode through the halls of the laboratory, walking past the other scientists, smiling and returning their greetings.

"Hey, Issy!" called one of the scientists. "Where are you going?"

"Just have to get something out of storage," she replied. "Won't take long."

"All right," said the scientists. "I'm expecting you in the lab in ten minutes."

"Okay," said Isabelle, opening the door to the storage warehouse. She strode through the warehouse, pulling on a pair of rubber gloves as she did so. She found the tachyon converter and picked it up. She had to move a few things out of the way to get it, but she put them back when she was done, thankful that the gloves she was wearing meant that there were no fingerprints to tie her to the theft. She placed the tachyon converter on the ground and stepped back a few metres. She pulled out the gun, and smiled as she remembered that she had to kill herself now that she had the tachyon converter. She rested the barrel of the gun against her temple, and opened her eyes wide. Her eyes changed colour for a brief second, and Possession reappeared in front of her. Isabelle blinked in confusion. Who was that man in front of her? Why was she in storage? Why was she holding a gun to her head? Possession turned to look at her, his eyes flashing as he stared into her eyes. Isabelle nodded. Possession stepped back and picked up the tachyon converter as she pulled the trigger of the gun.

Possession winced at the loud noise. The bullet shredded the woman's temple, passing through her skull and blowing out the other side in a spray of flesh, blood and bone. The woman's corpse slumped, and Possession pulled out his communicator and pressed a button. A portal opened up in front of him, and he walked through it, as guards and other scientists rushed in to see what had happened. The subsequent police investigation determined that the death had been suicide, but they could find of no reason as to why the victim would try to commit suicide. No one ever noticed that the tachyon converter was missing until several days later, during a routine stock check. However, there was no sign as to where the converter had gone. It had appeared to have just _vanished_, as unscientific as it sounded.

* * *

Vox pressed a button on his voicebox. "Did you get it?" he asked.

Possession nodded, holding up the device he had stolen.

"Is there any evidence that could tie this theft back to us?" asked Vox.

Possession shook his head.

"Good," said Vox. "Gadget is waiting for you."

Possession headed out to the main room of the Tyrants Outpost. Gadget was working on the dimensional transporter, reaching into an open panel and tweaking with something out of sight. Gadget turned its head towards Possession as he walked in. It was slightly disconcerting to see Gadget's head twist around one hundred and eighty degrees to face him.

"Statement: I see you have returned with the tachyon converter," droned Gadget. "Query: May I please have it?"

Possession gave the device to the robot, and Gadget inserted it into the transporter. Possession didn't move.

"Query: Is there something you wished to know?" asked Gadget, turning to face him again.

_How long until this stupid thing is ready?_ Possession said in sign language.

"Estimation: Approximately one week, two days and five hours, assuming no delays in part retrieval and seven hour recharge periods per day. Query: Is that a satisfactory answer?"

Possession nodded.

"Command: Leave me in peace," droned Gadget. "I will finish sooner if there are no distractions."

* * *

Okay, by kinda creepy, I meant very creepy. I did that so as to provide a contrast between the kind, gentle Jericho from the normal universe.

Anyway, next chapter will be another chapter set in the normal universe, so stay tuned! (Does anyone even read this?)

-ShortyBoss.


	7. Chapter 6

Hey guys. Sorry for the lack of updates, but my muse has not been cooperating with me recently. However, I finally managed to get the bastard to work with me long enough to get this chapter out. This chapter is set in the Titans universe, and features a few non-Titans guest stars. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Six**

People filled the main square of the Central-Keystone City. A banner had been raised, reading "The Fastest Man Alive Charity Race". A marching band was playing as the Flash ran into the square, and the band was drowned out by the cheers of the people of Central-Keystone.

I appear to be the first one here, the Flash thought. How did that happen?

He pressed a finger to his ear, activating his Justice League communicator. "Flash to Superman. Where are you, big guy?"

"I'm right here," said a voice behind him.

The Flash turned around, spotting his opponent behind him. "Oh, there you are," he said. "How come I'm the one who got here first? That never happens."

"These races aren't normally hosted in Central-Keystone," said Superman.

"Oh, yeah," said the Flash. "Hey, did you lock up your Rogue's Gallery?"

Superman tilted his head to the side. "My what?"

"You know, your Rogues; the guys you go up against all the time," explained the Flash. "Like, I've got Captain Boomerang, Mirrormaster and Captain Cold, Batman's got Joker, Catwoman and Riddler, and you've got—"

"Braniac, Luthor and Darkseid?" said Superman with a raised eyebrow.

"Y… oh," said the Flash. "Kinda hard to keep them locked up, huh?"

Superman nodded in agreement. "Let's just hope we can get through this race without any interruptions for once."

"Ugh, tell me about it," said the Flash. "The only race that was ever finished was the first one, back when my uncle was still Flash."

"Excuse me!" someone yelled. Superman and the Flash turned to face the voice, and they both spotted a woman waving her hand, a notepad at the ready.

"Hey, uh, Lois, right?" said the Flash.

"That's right, Lois Lane, Daily Planet," said the reporter. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions before the race starts?"

"Not at all," said the Flash.

"So, do you think you still have a chance against the Man of Steel?" asked Lois.

The Flash laughed. "Man of Steel, feet of lead!" he said. "I'll be running circles around Big Blue in no time."

To illustrate his point, the Flash sprinted, running in tight circles around Superman.

"Can't catch me! Can't catch me!" chanted the Flash as he ran.

Superman just stuck his arm out, and the Flash ran right into it.

"Lay off the coffee, will you?" said Superman. "You're hard enough to deal with when you're not bouncing from the ceiling."

"Gentlemen, I'd like to thank you both for participating in today's race," said a familiar voice.

Superman looked over at the starter of the race. "Mister Wayne," he said. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I was in town on business when the mayor asked me if I wouldn't mind starting today's race," said Bruce Wayne. "How could I say no?"

"Thank you for taking the time to do this for us," said Superman. "I'm sure you must be very busy."

"No, the pleasure is mine," said Bruce. "Incidentally, have you met my son yet?"

"No, I don't think so," said Superman.

Bruce stepped aside, allowing Superman and the Flash a better look at the young man standing behind Bruce. He had black hair which seemed to be a perpetual mess, with brilliant blue eyes. He had his arm linked with a young woman with startlingly bright green eyes and red hair.

"This is Richard Grayson and his wife, Kori," said Bruce. "I adopted Richard after his parents were killed."

"You wouldn't happen to be related to John and Mary Grayson, would you?" asked Superman as he shook Richard's hand. "The trapeze artists?"

Richard nodded. "They were my parents."

"I heard about their death," said Superman. "I don't think it was an accident."

"It wasn't," said the Flash. "The trapeze was weakened with acid before the circus began. The criminal who did it was recently captured by Nightwing in Jump City."

"Really?" said Richard. "I hadn't heard. Could you thank him for me?"

"It would be my pleasure," said the Flash.

"Come on," said Bruce. "We need to get this race started."

"Right," said the Flash. He and Superman were handed the electronic armbands they always used to track their progress during these races.

"The rules are simple," said Bruce. "The first man to run around the globe fifty times will be declared the Fastest Man Alive."

"Until the rematch," muttered the Flash, earning a chuckle from Superman as the two stepped up to the starting line.

"On your marks," said Bruce. Superman went down into a crouch, while the Flash just stood there, a small smirk on his lips.

"Get set," Bruce continued, raising the starting gun. Bruce pulled the trigger, and the two superheroes sprinted off, the wind from their passage almost knocking Bruce off his feet. The blue and red blurs were soon lost to sight as they ran.

* * *

"Bruce and Richard are pretty good actors," said the Flash. The two of them were on their sixth lap, and were currently running down a deserted road.

Superman nodded. "I was almost certain that Richard would slip up when his parents were mentioned."

"Nah, he's not going to slip up on something like that," said the Flash. "Give him some credit."

"So, what was the real reason Batman, Nightwing and Starfire were in town?" asked Superman.

"I asked Nightwing and Starfire to help me and Jinx to round up all the criminals," said the Flash. "Bruce really was in Central-Keystone for business."

"…Oh," said Superman.

"Don't sound that surprised," said the Flash. "He has got a big company to run. All you have to do is get a good story for the Planet."

"And what are you up to in your civilian life?" asked Superman.

"Getting ready to celebrate our anniversary," said the Flash. "It's our three-year anniversary next month!"

"I still can't believe you two have been married for three years," said Superman.

An incredibly dopey-looking grin appeared on the Flash's face. "Me neither."

* * *

"…And as they come in to finish their twenty-seventh lap, the Flash still has a narrow lead over Superman."

Jinx was standing in the crowd that was watching the race from the Central-Keystone main square. She was wearing one of Cyborg's holographic disguise rings. The hologram hid the paleness of her skin, as well as her distinctive eyes and hair.

A red blur raced past, followed very, very closely by a blue one. As the Flash ran past, the gust of wind blew her braid around like crazy. She also felt something brush against her cheek, and felt something being pressed into her palm. Jinx looked down at her hand, and blushed when she saw he'd given her another rose. Her other hand rubbed her cheek where he'd kissed her.

* * *

"I'm booooored," moaned the Flash.

"You're always bored," said Superman.

"How many laps have we got to go?" asked the Flash.

"Four more," replied Superman. "You can keep yourself occupied for that long, can't you?"

"Not really," said the Flash. "And I'm hungry."

"That's nothing new," said Superman. "Buy something on the next lap; I'm pretty sure we go past a hot dog stand."

The Flash's face lit up. "Really? Sweet!"

* * *

"We're almost there," said Superman. "A few more minutes and the finish line should be coming up."

"All right," said the Flash. "I'll see you there."

The Flash started to run faster, taking Superman slightly by surprise. Superman managed to catch up, but didn't realise his feet had left the ground.

"Hey, no flying!" said the Flash. "That's cheating!"

"Oops," said Superman, setting down, losing a few seconds as he got back into his stride. The two of them entered Central-Keystone City, dodging traffic as they approached the finish line. Superman started edging closer to the Flash, but the Flash accelerated, preventing the gap between them from growing smaller. The Flash made it over the line first, beating Superman by less than a second. The crowd erupted into wild cheers, and the people of Central-Keystone City flocked around the Flash to give him their congratulations. Jinx, no longer wearing her disguise ring, leapt out of the crowd and tackle-hugged the Flash, giving him a big kiss.

"Hey, Supes!" yelled the Flash over the crowd. "Good race," said the Flash, holding out his hand.

Superman shook the Flash's hand with a smile. "Same to you. And congratulations… Fastest Man Alive."

* * *

Disclaimer: Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. If not for them, one of the world's greatest superheroes wouldn't exist. What, were you expecting an actual disclaimer? You need me to say that I don't own Superman?! I would've that was slightly less than blindingly obvious, even without super-vision!

So yeah, Superman and Batman make guest appearances. This chapter was inspired by the Superman: The Animated Series episode Speed Demons. However, unlike that episode, they actually finish the race without being interrupted.

Anyway, next chapter we go back to the Tyrants universe, so stay tuned!

-ShortyBoss.


	8. Chapter 7

Hey guys. Sorry for the update drought recently. I've been rather sidetracked playing Star Wars The Old Republic. I regret nothing!

Anyway, I hope you all hade wonderful Christmases and New Years. Now, let's kick of the New Year with some style!

Disclaimer: I sure as hell didn't get the rights to Teen Titans for Xmas, that's for sure.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Arsenal glared at his opponent, his arm holding steady as he pointed his crossbow at her. Cheshire met his stare, not backing down, the blades strapped to her arms at the ready . The two former lovers stood there, frozen in a stand-off. Arsenal shifted his feet slightly, and Cheshire seized her chance, leaping at him and slashing. Arsenal dodged and fired his crossbow, missing the heroine. Cheshire's blades sliced his arm as she sailed past. Arsenal turned to face her, reloading his crossbow, but she had vanished. He spun around, trying to catch a glimpse of her grinning mask. He spotted the eyes and mouth, hovering in mid-air. He took aim and squeezed the trigger of the crossbow. Cheshire became visible again, and slashed the arrow out of the air. She lunged at him again, swinging her head around, bringing her weighted hair into play. The blow caused the archer to stagger backwards, and he tripped, dropping his crossbow and landing on his back.

"Cheshire!"

The masked hero turned to face the man who hailed her.

"Go help the Doctor," said General Immortus, drawing his sword and holding the point at Arsenal's throat. "I'll keep him here."

Cheshire nodded, and bolted for the exit.

Arsenal cursed mentally. This whole thing had been a trap. As soon as Arsenal and his team, which had consisted of himself, Quake, and two others, the recently freed Shard and Panther, had arrived at the LexCorp laboratory just outside Metropolis, three members of the Brotherhood of Justice had ambushed them. Cheshire, a skilled martial artist, and former lover of Arsenal. General Immortus, the Brotherhood's head strategist, and Dr Light, one of the key members of the Brotherhood, who had helped in the defeat of the Tyrants West three years ago. Shard, Panther and Quake were inside, fighting Dr Light and trying to grab the whatever-it-was that the they had come here to steal. He could still hear the sounds of combat coming from inside.

General Immortus and Arsenal locked gazes, the point of the General's sword centimetres away from the archer's throat. For the barest of seconds, Arsenal's eyes flicked over to where his crossbow was resting. Immortus saw Arsenal's gaze dart away, and realised what he was planning. Arsenal rolled over and dived for his crossbow, reaching out with his right arm. General Immortus reacted quickly, lashing out with his sword. The sword made a whistling noise as it swung through the air, and the whistle changed to the sound of metal cutting through meat. The blade cleaved through Arsenal's right arm, slicing through flesh and blood. Arsenal stared at the stump of his arm in shock, watching as blood poured out. There was a sickening thud as his dismembered arm hit the floor. The strange thing, he thought, as he looked from the stump, to his arm, then back to the stump, was that there was no pain. He thought something like this would...

Arsenal's vision clouded. All of a sudden, a searing, burning pain lanced through him. He tried to scream, but all that came out was a hoarse whisper. He clutched the stump of his right arm, holding it close to him as he curled up in agony. His vision grew even more blurry, as he realised that he was crying.

* * *

Shard formed a circular crystal around her hand, and used it as a shield to deflect the yellow beam of light emanating from Dr Light's power suit. Panther was duelling Cheshire, her sharp claws deflected by the heroine's blades. Two chunks of earth shot out, one striking Cheshire, the other hitting Dr Light.

"I've got the device!" yelled Quake. "Let's grab Arsenal and run!"

"Right!" replied Shard. The crystal formation around her arm shattered into thousands of pieces, and she sent the shards flying in Dr Light and Cheshire's general directions. Shard didn't stick around to see how badly she had injured the two Brotherhood members. She sprinted after Quake, who was levitating through the air on a platform of earth. Panther was at the rear, running on all fours, like an animal.

Quake soared out the open door, and stopped dead at the sight in front of him. Arsenal was lying on the ground, curled up in the foetal position, with a puddle of blood forming around him. Just ahead of him, lay a severed arm, just out of reach of the crossbow he had tried to reach. Standing above the archer was General Immortus, his sword still red with Arsenal's blood.

Shard screamed in anger, forming a crystal and sending it shooting through the air, piercing the General's shoulder. General Immortus screamed in agony and staggered backwards. Panther shoulder-slammed him, sending him flying. Shard scooped Arsenal, who had passed out from the pain, and Panther was screaming into her communicator, ordering Vox to pick them up now!

A beam of yellow light flew overhead, and Quake whirled around. Cheshire had retrieved General Immortus and was tending to his injury, while Dr Light provided cover fire.

Quake clenched his fists. A chunk of rock broke of from the platform he was standing on, and sharpened into a spear. The geomancer shoved his hand out, and the spear flew across the battlefield, piercing Dr Light in the chest. The Doctor's eyes went wide with shock. Beads of blood appeared at the corners of his mouth. Cheshire screamed his name. Quake yanked his arm back, pulling the spear of rock out of Dr Light's chest. More blood stained the dirt, and Quake turned, leaving his victim to die as he disappeared through Vox's portal.

* * *

Arsenal awoke with a groan, wincing in the harsh light of the medical bay. His right arm felt weird- it was almost as if it had fallen asleep... no, it felt as if there was absolutely no sensation at all. Memories came rushing back- blood pooling around him, his arm lying on the ground... his arm!

Arsenal looked down at where his right arm used to be, and yelped in a mixture of horror and surprise. Flesh and blood had been replaced by metal and oil- a prosthetic arm.

"Explanation: Your new prosthetic is equipped with a powerful laser cannon," droned a voice, causing Arsenal to jump.

Gadget was returning tools to their places on its body.

"Continuation: The arm cannon is extremely powerful and could not be disguised with a more human-like appearance."

Arsenal moved the prosthetic tentatively. The elbow moved slightly, and the fingers barely twitched.

"Statement: it will be several hours before the prosthetic completely integrates with your nervous system," droned Gadget, watching impassively, as only a robot could. "Advice: See me when it has integrated completely for instructions on how to activate the arm cannon."

Arsenal nodded, and leant backwards, resting his head back on the pillow. Gadget turned and left, his metallic feet causing loud, echoing footsteps.

* * *

Gadget's auditory sensors had picked up loud noises in the common room. Once he arrived, he saw a woman with long black hair and dark eyes kissing Red Hood passionately. The woman was soon hit by a purple starbolt, courtesy of Blackfire.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?!" screamed Blackfire. "Get off my boyfriend!"

"Your boyfriend?!" the woman yelled. "He was with me before he joined your stupid team!"

Blackfire fired a second starbolt, but the mystery woman crossed her wrists in front of her, deflecting the starbolt with the metal wristbands she wore.

"Girls, girls!" yelled Red Hood, stepping between Blackfire and the new arrival. He put an arm around Blackfire's shoulder, then around the other woman's. "I have the perfect solution."

There was silence for a second, before Red Hood announced his solution.

"Threesome."

Blackfire and the new arrival shared a glance with each other, then they both turned around and slapped Red Hood's grinning face, sending the Tyrants leader flying.

"Query: Who is the new arrival?" Gadget asked the nearest Tyrant, who happened to be Beast, who had recently renamed himself Menagerie.

"Her name's Darkstar," said the green-skinned changeling. "She's an Amazon, Olympia's younger sister, and apparently, she and Hood go back a ways."

Gadget lacked the social and emotional abilities of organics, but he did know that Menagerie's statement was an understatement.

"Now if you'll excuse me," said Menagerie, "I'm going to get some popcorn and watch the catfight."

* * *

Okay, a mauling, a murder and a catfight aren't very stylish, are they?

For those who are curious who Darkstar is, she is Donna Troy, who was the first Wonder Girl. Donna made two cameos on the show (Homecoming Part II and Calling All Titans) and appeared in the Teen Titans Go comics. I haven't used her yet, but she is going to make an appearance in the Titans Universe very soon.

-ShortyBoss.


	9. Chapter 8

Well, I'm back again (for the first time in over a month). Sorry about the long wait. I have nothing to say about that except I REGRET NOTHING!

Disclaimer: I don't own TT, and if I were in charge of CN, then I wouldn't have cancelled YJ or GLTAS. But, I am not. Alas.

* * *

Nightwing brought his motorcycle to a stop in the Tower garage, and rested his helmeted head against the handlebars. The heads up display that he'd recently had installed told him that the time was exactly twelve minutes past one in the morning.

Patrols, he decided, sucked.

Of course, there was nothing original about that observation; it was one he and various other members of both the Bat-Family and the Titans had made. Patrols were still an important part of the superhero life, though; crime didn't take the day (or, more often than not, the night) off just because you were tired and wanted to get some sleep. However, apart from the supervillain robberies and attacks, Jump City was usually pretty quiet. Nightwing had only encountered one mugger on his patrol. The masked hero glanced at his arm, and the thin red line that was visible through the rent in his sleeve. He'd gotten cocky, and the mugger had gotten lucky enough to cut him. The injury was fairly minor; it would probably take a day or so to heal up. He'd have to bandage it up before he went to bed... if he didn't fall asleep on his motorcycle.

* * *

When Nightwing woke up, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was. He'd somehow made it back to his room without falling asleep and curling up in a ball in the corridor. What really surprised him was that he'd bandaged up the cut on his arm before he got to bed. He blinked and sat up. Starfire had already woken up; that was obvious by the fact that her side of the bed was empty. He'd obviously slept for some time, judging by the sunlight streaming through the window. A quick glance at the clock confirmed his suspicions; it was almost ten o'clock.

Nightwing's eye was caught by something on his bed. He picked it up and smiled. The "something" turned out to be several new utility belts, filled with an assortment of all his favourite gadgets.

Attached to one of the belts was a card. Nightwing's smile turned into a fully-fledged grin as he read it.

"Happy Birthday, Richard! From the Bat-Family"

Underneath, there were a collection of emblems; a yellow R, two Bat-Symbols, one in yellow and one in black, as well as Alfred Pennyworth's neat signature.

Nightwing shook his head. Only our family gives out weapons as birthday gifts, he thought. I'll have to call them up today. He then realised that, if it was his birthday, the other Titans would've arranged a surprise party for him, in an attempt to, well, surprise him. It never worked, of course, but they did try.

Nightwing sat in front of his computer, waiting for the connection to establish itself. He'd had to walk past the common room to make it to his office, and from the sounds of it, practically every Titan had showed up for the event. That would certainly make things interesting...

His musings were interrupted when the connection finally sorted itself out, and Nightwing was assaulted with the sound of several people yelling "happy birthday" at him.

"Hey, thanks, guys," he said when the noise level finally dropped. The whole Bat-Family had managed to squeeze themselves into view of the camera. Tim Drake, the current Robin, was being shoved out of the way by Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon. Bruce Wayne, currently out of uniform, was doing his best to avoid the sibling squabble, while Alfred watched calmly in the background, wearing a party hat on his head while somehow still managing to look dignified, a very impressive feat.

"Hey, Dick," said Barbara. "Did you get your presents?"

Nightwing nodded. "I had a quick look through them. What sort of gadgets did you put in them?"

"Just the usual stuff," said Tim. "Y'know, bird-a-rangs, collapsible staffs, that kind of thing. We also threw in a few freeze discs and some electrics ones, too."

"I even gave you a few knockout bombs," said Bruce. "I know how much you _love_ to use those."

Nightwing rolled his eyes at his mentor's sarcasm. "Hey, you try going up against a bunch of robots with knockout gas, see how that turns out."

Bruce smiled. "So, how have you been?"

Nightwing shrugged. "I'm all right," he said. "Nothing big has come up recently. Well, not since I finally caught Zucco, anyway."

Bruce nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

Nightwing shook his head. "I've worked through my issues about that, mostly. I mean, I still miss Mom and Dad… probably will for the rest of my life… but I've got a new family now." Nightwing smirked. "Two, if I count you guys."

Bruce laughed. "So, you didn't…?"

"Lose control and beat him to a bloody pulp?" finished Nightwing. Bruce nodded slowly, and Nightwing sighed in reply. "I thought I would, but, in the end, I didn't. In fact, I only hit him once."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, obviously interested in the story. Nightwing told him everything about the confrontation at Haly's Circus two months ago.

"So that's why you performed there," said Bruce quietly when Nightwing was done. "How did he figure out who you were?"

"I performed a quadruple somersault when I leapt from one trapeze to the other," said Nightwing. "Haly knew I could perform one, and he knew that Zucco was responsible for Mom and Dad's deaths, so he put two and two together." Nightwing was quiet for a second, then added, "Zucco recognized me when I mentioned their names to him when I arrested him. I don't think he remembers my name, though."

"What makes you say that?" asked Bruce.

"The fact that he called me circus brat," said Nightwing. "I get the feeling if he knew who I really was, he would have said my real name, just to taunt me."

Nightwing and his old mentor were quiet for a second, and then Nightwing noticed something. "Hey," he said. "Where did Babs and Tim go?"

"Master Timothy and Mistress Barbara left when you and Master Bruce began discussing your parents," said Alfred, speaking up for the first time in the conversation. "Well, Mistress Barbara dragged Master Timothy away to give you two some privacy, but I digress."

Nightwing nodded.

"Now, then, Master Richard, have you been eating properly?" asked the butler.

"Yes, Alfred," said Nightwing, resisting a serious urge to grin.

"And you haven't injured yourself too severely in your recent patrols?"

"No, Alfred," replied Nightwing dutifully.

Alfred nodded. "In honour of the occasion, I have baked you a cake and mailed it to you. You are to share it amongst your fellow Titans. You are not allowed to hoard the cake, and I am expecting the container back, understood?"

"Yes, Alfred," said Nightwing. If there was one thing worse than an angry Batman, it was an angry Alfred Pennyworth…

Alfred nodded, apparently satisfied. "Very well, then," he said, removing the party hat from his head and placing it on the desk that Nightwing knew from experience was just out of view. "I hope you enjoy yourself." With that, the butler left Nightwing and Bruce alone.

"Bruce, before I go, I've got one last thing I want to say," said Nightwing.

Bruce nodded. "Go ahead."

Nightwing swallowed, trying to find a way to say it delicately… but he failed miserably, and ended up blurting out "Jason Todd is alive."

Bruce gasped, and his eyes went wide. "What?" he hissed.

"Jason Todd is alive," Nightwing repeated. "He survived the Joker's beating, somehow made it to Jump City and stole the Red X suit."

A haunted look crossed Bruce's face. "How did you find out?"

"It was the day before I arrested Zucco," said Nightwing. "He came and found me while I was on patrol, and told me Zucco was coming to Jump City. When I asked him why he was telling me about that, he told me that he knew Zucco killed my parents, then he dropped my real name, so I responded by calling him Jason."

Bruce swallowed. "Was it… was it really him?"

Nightwing nodded. "It was him, all right."

Bruce lowered his head. Nightwing couldn't see his face, but Bruce he knew how shocked Bruce was. It was one thing to write down a theory on a piece of paper, but it was another thing entirely to find out your missing-presumed-dead adopted son was actually _alive_.

"I should've looked harder," Bruce whispered. "I shouldn't have given up so—"

"Bruce," Nightwing interrupted. "Jason _forgives_ you for not finding him, and for not saving him. He doesn't hold a grudge against you. He just didn't want you to know he was alive because he knew you'd beat yourself up about it."

Bruce raised his head, and Nightwing would swear he saw tears starting to form in his mentor's eyes. "Is that true?"

Nightwing nodded. "He didn't go back, not because he hated you, but because he didn't want to beaten and nearly killed again just to make someone else—to make _you _suffer."

Bruce's gaze drifted away from the screen. Nightwing guessed that he was looking at the memorial to Jason, where Bruce kept a copy of Jason's Robin uniform in immaculate condition.

"I'll see if I can get Jason to contact you at some point," Nightwing said, not sure if Bruce was listening. As he moved to end the call, Bruce spoke up.  
"Richard," he said. "…Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Nightwing, before he ended the call.

* * *

The common room to Titans Tower had recently been redecorated. Paper streamers were all over the place, and a few of the Titans who could fly were hanging up the last few, and making minor adjustments. A large "Happy Birthday" banner was hanging from the ceiling, and there were several balloons throughout the room. In the centre of the table, there was an absolutely massive multi-layer ice-cream cake, baked by Cyborg, of course.

"Shouldn't he be awake by now?" moaned Changeling, looking over the assembled crowd. He and Cyborg had sent invitations to every Titan and Honorary Titan in the world, and everyone had turned up. It was the first time every Titan had been in the same place since the party they'd had when everyone had gone to rescue Starfire; the very same party that Nightwing had proposed to Starfire in what was probably the cheesiest way ever.

"Well, he didn't get back until after midnight," said Raven.

"He's definitely awake," said Cyborg, watching the feed from the security cameras on the monitor built into his arm. "I saw him walking to his office earlier. Guess he wanted to talk to Batman first… wait, he's leaving his office, and he's heading this way! Everyone get ready!"

At Cyborg's yell, everyone in the room started moving, hiding behind the kitchen bench or behind the couches, with a few even sneaking in under the table. The door opened with a distinctive hiss, and everyone leapt out of cover.

"_HAPPY BIRTHD—HUH?_"

The door had opened, but there was no sign of Nightwing.

"What?! Where is he?" asked the Flash, poking his head out the door and looking around.

"How could he have opened a door and just vanish into thin air?" wondered Red Arrow.

"Well, he was trained by Batman," said Tempest. "And Batman is the master at quiet entrances and exits."

"He sure is," said Nightwing from behind them, causing both members of the Titans East to jump about a foot in the air and scream in surprise like little girls.

"What…when…where…who…why…how…?" sputtered Red Arrow incoherently.

Tempest fared a little better. "What the… when did you… how did you… um, huh?"

Terra was the one who managed to ask the question that was on everyone's lips: "_How the hell did you get in here?!_"

"Why would I tell you that?" he asked. "I wouldn't be able to sneak up on you if I told you my secret."

"That's kinda the point," said Bumblebee. "So how'd you get in here?"

"That's for me to know and you to figure out for yourselves," said Nightwing. "Now can we stop arguing about this and have some cake?"

At the mention of cake, the assembled Titans forgot all about Nightwing's stealthy entrance, and lined up for a piece of cake. Cyborg skilfully sliced the cake and gave everyone a slice. The Flash ate his at near-sonic speed, and raced back for more, only to be discouraged by a very stern glare from Cyborg, much to the amusement of the other Titans.

"No more for you, Wally!" Nightwing yelled.

"Ah, shut up, bird boy," muttered the Flash.

"You guys are gonna save some for me, right?" called a familiar voice.

Nightwing smiled as he looked at the source of the voice. A tall woman, with dark hair and eyes, wearing black star-studded shirts and pants, with silver bracelets around her wrists and a lasso attached to her belt.

"Donna!" said Nightwing. "It's been ages since I last saw you!"

The Flash also spotted her, and a massive grin appeared on his face. "Hey, Donna, long time no see!"

The Flash, Nightwing and Donna grabbed each other in a group hug, laughing and chatting. Raven glanced over at Changeling, who shrugged and whispered, "Beats me."

The trio were interrupted by Jinx clearing her throat. The Mistress of Misfortune was standing next to Starfire, and both women were glaring at their respective husbands. Nightwing and the Flash gulped in unison, and glanced at each other sheepishly. Donna just laughed at the scene.

"Relax, girls, I'm not stealing your husbands," she said. "I'm Donna Troy, from Themyscira. I was the first Wonder Girl, but I changed my name to Troia a few years back."

Nightwing nodded. "Me, Wally, and Donna here go _way_ back," he said.

"Yeah, we were, what, twelve years old when we first met?" said the Flash.

"Yeah, about that," said Donna. "Anyway, we teamed up every now and then, got into adventures, saved each other's lives…"

"We were basically the Pre-Teen Titans," said the Flash.

"After a while, we split up, started doing our own things," said Nightwing.

"I still do tend to do my own thing," said Donna.

"Yeah, you did miss out on the whole Brotherhood of Evil thing," said the Flash. "Even though I distinctly remember giving you a communicator."

"Hey, the Brotherhood didn't even send anyone after me in the first place," said Donna. "And since my communicator was _broken_, I didn't know where to go for the big fight."

"We didn't say it was a _bad_ thing," said Nightwing. "I mean, you did look after Steel City while we were rescuing Starfire, and you _were_ invited to the big party when we got back."

"I didn't really think I belonged there," said Donna. "I didn't help with the rescue; Hades, this is the first time I've even met Starfire face to face."

"Donna, you're a Titan," said Nightwing. "That makes you part of our family. You'll always belong with us."

"Don't you dare start getting sentimental on my, Dickhead," said Donna.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Donna," Nightwing replied. "And don't call me 'Dick.' Only Babs is allowed to call me 'Dick.'"

"Hey, how come Barbara's allowed to call you 'Dick' but we're not?" asked the Flash. "And why can't we call her 'Babs?'"

"She is the only one allowed to call me 'Dick' because I am the only one allowed to call her 'Babs,'" said Nightwing. "That's just how it works."

"That's not fair," muttered the Flash.

"Tough luck," said Nightwing. "Although, if it makes you feel better, we're all going out for pizza for lunch."

Cyborg cocked his head in confusion. "Who made that decision?" he asked.

"Me, when I remembered it was my birthday and I realised everyone was here," said Nightwing. "It's not like you're going to complain much, is it?"

"Not really," said Cyborg. "How 'bout the rest of y'all? Pizza sound good?"

The resulting cheers nearly blew the windows out.

* * *

So, Bruce now knows who Red X is. I was kind of worried about how this scene would play out, but it flowed pretty easily. I just how Richard and Bruce sound relatively in character.

Donna Troy probably has one of the most unnecessarily convoluted and contradictory back stories of any character ever. That's why I've avoided her so far, apart from a short mention in The Fearsome Five. Donna, back when she was Wonder Girl, also made two cameos in the show itself; once in Homecoming Part II, and once in Calling All Titans. Apart from that, nothing else. Well, apart from the TTG comics, but I never really read those, so yeah. Anyway, please review. I want to know what you guys think. Reviews make me happy!

Next chapter, the Tyrants will open the portal between worlds and the fight will begin. Brace yourselves!

-ShortyBoss.


	10. Chapter 9

What is this? A new chapter? In less than a month? What sorcery is this? And can I stop speaking in questions?

The answers are, A) this is a new chapter, B) yes, C) yes, D) no sorcery was involved in the making of this chapter, and E) yes I can.

So without further ado, I present the next chapter of House of Mirrors!

Disclaimer: sarcasm Of course I own Teen Titans /sarcasm.

**Chapter Nine**

_Teen Tyrants Universe_

Red Hood sighed, and rubbed his temples in an attempt to soothe his headache. Tensions were running high amongst the Tyrants. Several shouting matches had started over the last few days, and even a few fist-fights. So far, superpowers hadn't been involved, but it was only a matter of time before that happened.

A beeping noise interrupted Red Hood's dark musings.

"What?" Red Hood growled into his communicator.

"Announcement: The inter-dimensional transporter is finished," droned Gadget in reply. "Statement: I have begun preliminary procedures to activate the portal."

A feral grin spread across Red Hood's face. "About time," he said. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Acknowledgement: The portal will be ready to open when you arrive," said Gadget.

Red Hood shoved the communicator back into his belt, then grabbed his helmet and shoved it on. He opened his door and almost walked straight into Arsenal.

"What do you want, Arsenal?" asked Red Hood.

"I've had it with you, Hood," Arsenal said, raising the cannon hidden in his prosthetic arm. "There's been too much risk, not enough reward, and no money involved. And because of your bad leadership, I lost my arm!"

"Look, Arsenal I didn't know about the Brotherhood—"

"You may not have known, but you should've figured it out!" yelled Arsenal "You _knew_ we'd get their attention by resurfacing, but you didn't warn _us_ about that!"

"What do you want, Arsenal?" asked Red Hood. "Do you want out?"

"No," said Arsenal, the cannon in his arm whining as it built up charge. "I want your head splattered against the wall."

Red Hood acted fast. He used his left arm to knock Arsenal's arm cannon out of the way, causing the shot to go wild and burn a hole in the roof. Red Hood's right arm swung in a punch at Arsenal's chest, winding him. Red Hood then jabbed two fingers into Arsenal's throat, causing him to gag. Finally, Red Hood dropped down and swept Arsenal's legs from under him. Arsenal landed on his back with a groan, and Red Hood casually pulled out a knife and held it to Arsenal's throat.

"Had enough?" asked Red Hood. "Or do you really have a death wish?"

Arsenal grimaced, before he sighed and lowered his head to the floor in defeat. "You win, Hood."

Red Hood smirked under his helmet. "I figured you'd see it my way."

The leader of the Tyrants turned and walked away, leaving the former archer in shame on the floor. As he walked away, Red Hood saw Be—no, _Menagerie_—walking towards him.

"What happened?" asked Menagerie.

Red Hood shrugged. "Arsenal just tried to kill me," he said. "Nothing to worry about."

Menagerie nodded. "Lots of fights have been breaking out recently," he said, almost to himself. "This never happened when Rage was alive."

That stopped Red Hood dead in his tracks. It was true. Whenever all the Tyrants had gathered like this before her death, everyone had managed to avoid killing each other, unlike what had happened in the last week. Had she… no, no, she could only sense emotions, not manipulate them. Unless she lied…

Red Hood shook his head. It was no use worrying about it now; after all, she was dead.

"Menagerie, gather everyone up and meet in the main room," said Red Hood. "Gadget's finished."

"Finally!" said Menagerie. "I've been wanting to cause some chaos for a while now."

* * *

_Teen Titans Universe_

"Hey, green bean!" yelled Cyborg with an evil grin on his face. "Want some of my pizza?"

Changeling grimaced. "Dude, that's covered in meat! I'm a vegetarian!"

"Vegan," corrected Raven.

Changeling looked at Raven in confusion. "Whuh?"

"Vegetarians don't eat meat, but they eat other animal products, like cheese and milk," said Raven. "Vegans, on the other hand, don't eat any animal products."

"Rae, this is _me_ we're talking about," Changeling replied. "Did you really think I'd know the difference?"

"Of course not," said Raven. "That's why I'm telling you now."

"You do realise he's probably gonna forget and just keep calling himself a vegetarian, right?" said Cyborg.

"Yeah, I know," said Raven. "I just wanted to call him out on it for once."

"Can't argue with that," said Changeling, before turning back to Cyborg. "Anyway, "I've been most of those animals at some point! It'd be like cannibalism! Do you know how gross cannibalism is?"

"Are they always like this?" Argent asked Raven.

Raven shook her head. "They used to be worse. The two of them would argue about it at least once a week. Nowadays, they just do it every now and then for fun."

Argent shook her head. "You lot are crazy," she said.

"We all are," said Raven, looking over the assembled Titans. "That's why we're Titans."

Argent opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. She tried again, but still said nothing.

"You know, I can't find any witty responses to that," said Argent eventually. "I think that means you might be right."

Raven smiled, but her expression soon grew stern as she saw something off to one side.

"Teether!" yelled Raven. "What have I told you about…"

"Wait, what's that?" said Red Star, pointing at something down at the street below the balcony.

Everyone gathered at the edge to see what Red Star was pointing at. It was a strange, twisted mass of something. There was a loud crack, and the mass expanded into an oval shape, flashing black and yellow.

"Hey, that's an interdimensional portal!" said the Flash.

"A what?" asked Changeling.

"And how do you know what one looks like?" asked Nightwing.

"It's a portal made by a machine used to travel between alternate dimensions," said the Flash. "And I know what one looks like because I've been through one."

"So who would try to reach us from another dimension?" asked Tempest.

"Killowat was from another dimension, right?" asked Ravager. "Maybe it's him."

"Killowat's dimension was not the only alternate dimension we visited," said Starfire softly.

Nightwing nodded, resting one hand on his utility belt, ready to draw weapons if _they_ appeared.

Something fell through the portal, landing on the road with a metallic clunk. It was a helmet, one that covered the whole head, and was painted red, with two eyeholes covered in reflective white glass. It took Nightwing a few seconds to recognise it, but once he did, he yanked out a bird-a-rang and hurled it at the helmet. Once he had thrown the disc, Raven immediately created a shield around the building. Argent wasn't sure what was going on, but she followed Raven's lead and created a second shield.

Nightwing's bird-a-rang hit the helmet, and the helmet exploded when the bird-a-rang connected with it. People out on the streets had given the area where the portal had appeared a wide berth, and had started backing away when the helmet had appeared. Once Raven and Argent had their shields up, most of them had realised something was wrong and had started to run. Even so, the shockwave still knocked several people off their feet, and those that had been too close were either injured by the shrapnel, or suffered a few broken bones, thanks to the shockwave. After the explosion, Raven and Argent lowered their shields, and the Flash ran up to the blast site, carrying those with broken bones to the nearest hospital, while Raven flew over and started treating the less serious injuries, the cuts earned from flying debris. Several of the faster, flight capable Titans, like Starfire and Troia, began escorting people out of the blast zone and away from the portal.

"What the hell was that?" asked the Herald.

Nightwing pulled out his communicator, so those that were helping the injured could hear what he had to say. "That explosion was caused by the Teen Tyrants. The Tyrants are from another dimension. We met them when we were trying to get Killowat back to his home dimension. They are basically evil versions of us, so be prepared to fight someone with the same skills and powers as you."

As the Flash ran towards another civilian, a dark yellow-green blur raced out of the portal and smacked into him. Several other people poured out of the portal, and all of them had expressions that made one thing very clear. They were here for blood.

Nightwing recognised the last three out of the portal. Three of the four remaining members of the original Tyrants team. His opposite number, Red Hood, stared back at him. Both leaders shouted their commands at the same time.

"Tyrants, ATTACK!"

"Titans, GO!"

* * *

This is the first chapter to feature scenes from both universes. Previously, I wrote a chapter of the Tyrantsverse, then wrote a chapter of the Titansverse. That was mostly to highlight that the two universes were much different from each other, and that both universes operated independently of each other. I also just wanted to explore different stories in the Titansverse, because there was no overarching villain threat yet, while I had the continuous plot of the Tyrants in the Tyrantsverse.

Next time, the battles begin!

-ShortyBoss.


	11. Chapter 10

Author's Note: I wrote chapter nine of this story before the Boston bombing. Unfortunately, the previous chapter involved a bomb being detonated in a street. I wish there was something I could say to all those who were hurt by the bombs last week, but I can't think of anything to say that doesn't sound trite, or hasn't already been said. I'm so sorry something like this could happen, but we have to hope that whoever did this can be brought to justice.

I sincerely apologize for posting this so soon after the bombings, but I can't let that prevent me from telling my story. That said, those who are upset about reading something like this right now, please press the back button without leaving any hateful comments.

Disclaimer: Teen Titans belongs to DC. What happens in this chapter, or in the previous chapter, is not a commentary on the Boston bombings, nor is it meant to insult or hurt anyone who has already been harmed by the bombings and the aftermath. I don't like publishing this so soon, but I would like to continue this story the way it was meant to be told.

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

Nightwing ran towards the edge of the balcony, and leaped off as the other Titans charged towards their counterparts. He rolled as he landed on the road below, and as he rolled, he pulled out an explosive disc. Once Nightwing was back on his feet, he hurled the disc at Red Hood's feet. The explosion knocked Red Hood over, and Nightwing sprinted towards him. As Red Hood got to his feet, Nightwing leaped through the air, tackling Red Hood, and sending them both flying into the portal. For a brief moment, there was a strange sensation, as if Nightwing was being pushed and pulled in all directions at once, and then, they were through the portal and in the universe the Tyrants had come from.

Nightwing landed on top of Red Hood, but the helmeted criminal pushed Nightwing off and scrambled to his feet. Red Hood's heroic counterpart was also up, and the two of them began to circle each other. Beneath his helmet, Red Hood smiled as Nightwing walked into Gadget's line of fire.

_Just a few steps more_, he thought. _Perfect_.

Gadget, from its position at the controls of the portal, aimed its sonic cannon at Nightwing. The blast hit Nightwing in the side, sending him flying. Red Hood used the distraction to run, sprinting into one of the side corridors.

Nightwing rolled to his feet, and spotted Red Hood fleeing. Gadget fired a second time, and Nightwing dodged. Gadget's attack went wide, the sonic blast passing into the portal. Nightwing grabbed one of his less-used weapons, a disc with four spikes sticking out. He tossed it at Gadget, and the disc stuck to the robot's shoulder. The disc then started to release electricity, paralyzing the robot for a few seconds. Gadget recovered, and took aim with its sonic cannon—

—Only to be interrupted by a blue blast of sonic energy as Cyborg ran in through the portal.

"Got your message," said Cyborg, moving to stand next to his friend. "I was starting to wonder where evil me was."

"Any ideas what those are the controls for?" asked Nightwing.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it's for the portal," said Cyborg. "Probably to keep it stable or something."

Nightwing nodded. "I'm going after Red Hood," said Nightwing. "Keep evil you busy."

"Gotcha," said Cyborg, firing his sonic cannon at Gadget. Nightwing started to head down the corridor Red Hood had fled into, but slowed down to check himself over. Gadget's first sonic cannon attack had hit him in the chest. He patted his ribs gingerly.

_No broken bones_, he thought, _But I'm going to have some _wonderful_ bruises by tomorrow_.

Nightwing broke into a run, and as he approached the corner, Red Hood lashed out from the other side of the corner, swinging with a knife. The knife slammed into the wall where Nightwing would have been if he hadn't stopped short. The knife skidded along the wall, causing Red Hood to lose balance. Nightwing jabbed Red Hood in the gut, and the criminal head-butted Nightwing. Nightwing staggered back, and Red Hood bolted again. Nightwing recovered, and gave chase. He saw Red Hood ducking into a side room, and followed him in.

The room Nightwing entered was pretty much empty. There were storage shelves along the sides of the wall, suggesting the room was probably some kind of vault. There was also no sign of Red Hood. He glanced up at the ceiling, but the criminal wasn't up there. He turned around, and watched Red Hood drop down from his perch above the door. Red Hood then slammed his hand against the panel by the door, and the heavy metal door slammed down, locking itself.

"There's nowhere for you to run," said Red Hood.

"Funny. It looked like you were doing the running," said Nightwing.

"That was just part of the plan," said Red Hood.

"What, you want to be trapped in here with me?" asked Nightwing.

"You can't call for help from your precious Titans," spat Red Hood. "It's just you and me now."

Nightwing smirked. "I don't need their help to take you on."

Nightwing grabbed a smoke bomb from his belt and threw it down, releasing billowing clouds of grey smoke.

Red Hood laughed. "You really think you can hide from me with that little trick?"

There was a series of loud bangs as Nightwing threw down more smoke bombs.

"I don't see how throwing out more smoke's gonna help," said Red Hood.

"It's not smoke," said Nightwing, his voice muffled by the air filter he'd shoved in his mouth. "It's anaesthetic gas."

Red Hood laughed again, before lunging towards where Nightwing's voice had sounded from. He missed, his fists passing through greenish-grey smoke.

"You really think that's gonna work?" he said. "My helmet has a built-in air filter just for this occasion."

"It was worth a shot," said Nightwing, glad for the short respite the smoke would provide until it dissipated.

* * *

Blackfire flew towards Starfire, and as her counterpart approached, Starfire dropped down onto her back. Blackfire started to fly over Starfire, and her expression changed from confusion to pain as Starfire kicked her in the gut, sending her shooting upwards. Starfire leapt up, and pushed off from the ground, and slammed a starbolt-surrounded fist into Blackfire's chin. She retaliated by blasting Starfire with her eyebeams, sending the Tamaranean woman smashing back into the ground. Blackfire dropped down, intent on slamming Starfire further into the ground, but Starfire rolled out of the way and took flight. Blackfire's blow dug into the road where Starfire had been laying. Starfire fired a flurry of starbolts at her evil counterpart, but Blackfire surrounded her hands with starbolt energy and batted the green blasts away. Starfire charged, and swung a starbolt-surrounded fist at Blackfire. Blackfire blocked the blow, but she was still knocked back.

"You can't hope to beat me!" yelled Blackfire. "We are the same! I know everything you know."

Starfire's eyes narrowed. "You know nothing about me," the Tamaranean princess growled.

Starfire dropped to the ground and fired her eyebeams at Blackfire. Blackfire countered by firing her own eyebeams. Green and purple clashed in a twisting mass of energy between the two. Blackfire found herself being pushed back as Starfire's eyebeams slowly advanced towards her, as her own purple eyebeams diminished in size.

_But that is impossible_, thought Blackfire. _If we are of equal strength, then neither of us should move..._

That was when Blackfire realised Starfire's advantage. Starfire was standing on the road, using it to brace herself. With no way to brace herself, Blackfire was being forced back, because the energy building up between them had no other avenue of escape.

Blackfire growled, and tried to increase the strength of her eyebeams, but Starfire was still overpowering her. Blackfire was being forced ever higher, and Starfire's eyebeams were slowly closing the distance. Now, the churning green and purple mass of starbolt energy that marked where the two sets of eyebeams met was less than a meter away from Blackfire's face. Starfire's face hardened, and, in one final push, forced her eyebeams through towards Blackfire. Blackfire's eyes widened for the briefest of instants before she was hit by the full force of her counterpart's eyebeams. Blackfire screamed in pain, lost her concentration and plummeted to the hard ground below. Starfire approached slowly, a starbolt at the ready, just in case.

Blackfire groaned as she sat up. She gingerly felt the skin around her eyes, and breathed in sharply as her fingers brushed against bruised skin. Her memory of recent events was hazy. Blackfire could remember that she had gone through the portal, and that allowed her to figure out where she was. She was in the universe that her heroic counterpart had appeared from, and must have fought her...

Blackfire gasped softly as her memory of the battle finally returned. She opened her eyes, and all she could was a white, bright blur. She could see movement around her, and flashes of light indicated the use of various superpowers. In front of her, Blackfire could just make out the figure of a woman, and a hazy green glow surrounded the woman's hands and head. Blackfire's eyes hurt too much for her to try using her eyebeams, so she fired a volley of starbolts at her opponent. Unsurprisingly, her attacks missed the target, but they had the desired effect of causing Starfire to dodge. Blackfire used the distraction to take off, soaring above the streets of Jump City, and Starfire took off in pursuit. Blackfire flew in an evasive pattern, throwing starbolts wildly behind her, trying to buy herself time to let her eyesight recover.

* * *

Changeling started to run at his evil counterpart. Menagerie morphed into a cheetah and sprinted towards him, pouncing as he got closer. Changeling morphed into a mouse and ran underneath the cheetah, switching to a stegosaurus. Menagerie morphed into a boa constrictor, and slithered between the plates on Changeling's back. Changeling changed into a fly, and flew out from Menagerie's grasp, causing the snake to drop to the floor. Menagerie switched to a chameleon, and lashed out with his tongue, but Changeling dodged, and switched to an eagle and started to rise, gaining height quickly. Menagerie changed to a hawk and gave pursuit.

Once Changeling was high up in the air, he morphed into a peregrine falcon and dove, shooting down towards Menagerie. Once Menagerie realised what was happening, he tried to dodge, but Changeling was too fast, slamming into Menagerie and sending him spinning out of control. The impact stunned Menagerie, and he lost altitude as he tried to clear his head. When Menagerie regained his senses, he realised he was falling fast. He spread out his wings and tried to control his fall, and managed to slow himself down. It wasn't enough; Menagerie still slammed into the street hard. The hard blow caused Menagerie to automatically revert to his human form, mostly healing any mortal injuries he had sustained.

Changeling dropped down to the streets, and found Raven tending to an injured civilian. He reverted back to human form and ran to her side.

"Raven! Are you okay?" he yelled over the sounds of battle ringing out across the streets. "Where are the kids?!"

"Melvin, Timmy and Teether are fine," Raven replied. "They're getting bystanders out of here." The sorceress's hands were glowing blue, and she ran them over the cut in the woman's leg, healing the injury.

"How many casualties?" asked Changeling.

"No-one's died yet," said Raven as she finished healing the gash. The woman she was healing got up, and ran over to where another civilian was limping away.

Raven glanced around the battlefield. Most of the civilians had been cleared out, but there were still a few who were to badly hurt to be moved. She saw a green-skinned rhinoceros charging towards her and Changeling, so she threw up a shield, and Menagerie slammed right into it.

"I've got to get to the hospital!" Raven yelled. "I have to heal as many people as I can."

Changeling nodded. "I've got this guy." Changeling ran forward, morphed into a moose and charged at Menagerie. Menagerie responded by also morphing into a moose, and the two animals locked horns, pushing each other back and forth. Raven shrouded herself with her powers, forming a large raven and flying quickly to the nearest hospital.

* * *

Author's Note: Once again, I apologise for posting this so soon after the bombings, and, to everyone who was hurt by the bombings, or who lost loved ones, I am so, so sorry. I wish there were some other way I could help, but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do over here in Australia, half a world away from Boston.

-ShortyBoss.


	12. Chapter 11

Hey, guys. Really sorry for not posting this sooner, but I've been dealing with assignments and exam revision. I've also been struggling to come up with ideas for the fight scenes in this chapter. And before you ask, no, I am not planning on letting this fic die. I am going to finish it, come hell or high water. And on that note, enjoy three more fight scenes.

Disclaimer: These are starting to feel redundant. You guys know I don't work for DC, right?

**Chapter Eleven**

Bumblebee took to the air, firing her stingers. Wasp let the blasts bounce off her armour as she charged her own stingers, then lashed out at Bumblebee. Bumblebee blocked the attacks, electricity sparking between the two sets of stingers. Wasp swung her leg around, kicking at Bumblebee. Bumblebee shrank to dodge, then flipped through the air with her legs out to kick Wasp, growing back to full size as she did so. Wasp darted to the side, shrinking and flitting around behind Bumblebee. Wasp charged at Bumblebee, ready to shove her stingers into Bumblebee's exposed back. Bumblebee shrank and turned around, catching Wasp's stingers with her own. Bumblebee pushed to the sides and shoved Wasp's arms apart, then drew her legs up and kicked, growing as she did so, hitting Wasp in the face with two rapidly growing boots. The blow broke Wasp's nose and shattered her goggles. Shards of glass were driven into Wasp's left eye, slicing her eyeball open and slashing her eyelids to shreds. Wasp grew back to full size instinctively as she flew, tumbling through the air, sending blood in all directions. She managed to right herself, and shot a death glare in Bumblebee's direction.

Bumblebee gasped in shock. Seeing her own face shoot glaring at her like that was rather disturbing, and the ruined eye, broken nose, blood and bruises only made matters worse.

Wasp yelled, and started firing her stingers at Bumblebee. Bumblebee flew through the blasts, shrinking and growing to avoid the electrical attacks, and shooting off a few of her own attacks. Most of Bumblebee's attacks glanced off Wasp's armour, but a few struck Wasp's face. Bumblebee charged at Wasp and lashed out with her stingers, but Wasp shrank and dodged, and for a few critical seconds, she was out of Bumblebee's sight. Bumblebee looked around wildly, trying to find her opponent.

Where could she be?

* * *

A missile shot over Red Arrow's head as he dove towards the edge of the balcony and ducked under the solid concrete railing. Red Arrow popped up and fired an arrow at Arsenal. Arsenal ran a few steps to his right, dodging the arrow as he loaded and fired a second missile from his arm cannon. Red Arrow dove to his left, and the missile impacted against the concrete railing, blowing a hole in the concrete where Red Arrow had been standing seconds ago. Red Arrow yanked an arrow out of his quiver and looked it over, before returning it and grabbing a different arrow. He stood up and fired the arrow, aiming just short of Arsenal. The arrow screamed through the air, and, upon hitting the ground, caused a loud, siren-like whine, causing Arsenal to cover his ears to try to block out the sound. While Arsenal was distracted, Red Arrow took careful aim with his next arrow, and released the arrow just as the noise started dying down. Halfway through its flight, the arrow exploded, and a net shot out and wrapped around Arsenal, tripping him. Red Arrow climbed over the concrete railing and dropped down onto the street below. He started walking towards his evil counterpart, when he noticed that Arsenal's prosthetic arm had transformed into a cannon. Arsenal fired the arm cannon at Red Arrow, but Red Arrow managed to dodge the blast. The laser blast burnt a hole in the net, which allowed Arsenal to work his way free.

_When did evil me get a robot arm?_ Red Arrow wondered. _And is that ever going to happen to me?_

Red Arrow abandoned that train of thought, and brought his mind back to the fight at hand. The archer started to back up as he readied another arrow, while his Tyrants counterpart got to his feet. Red Arrow fired, but Arsenal fired his arm cannon, and the blast vaporised the arrow and continued towards him. Red Arrow dodged, but not quite fast enough, yelping as the beam burnt a line down his back. The smell of charred flesh almost made him vomit, and his eyes watered as he winced in pain. Red Arrow reached into his quiver to pull out another arrow as Arsenal tossed something towards him.

"Oh, shit," muttered Red Arrow, as he realised that Arsenal had thrown a grenade at him. Red Arrow dove to the side and rolled, screaming as his burnt back came into contact with the ground. As he got to his feet, the grenade exploded, knocking him down and sending shrapnel flying. Red Arrow groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. He knew his back was riddled with shrapnel, but apart from a slight stinging sensation, it didn't hurt. That was probably the adrenalin. Arsenal was standing a few metres away, calmly loading another rocket into his arm cannon. Red Arrow grabbed three arrows and took aim, holding his bow horizontally. Red Arrow and Arsenal stood there, eyes locked, daring the other to fire. Almost simultaneously, they attacked. Arsenal's missile connected with one of the arrows, causing a mid-air explosion. The other two arrows shot past the explosion at Arsenal, their covers exploding to reveal boxing gloves. One shot past him, and the other hit Arsenal in the chest, sending him flying. He rolled as he hit the ground, coming up on his feet, and was forced to dodge as Red Arrow started firing a barrage of arrows at him. Most of the arrows had blunt ends, and were designed with a similar purpose to the boxing-glove arrow-to hit someone at range without causing major permanent injury. Some of the arrows had explosive tips. The explosions didn't hurt him, but he did end up taking several shrapnel wounds. Arsenal whirled around to face Red Arrow, taking aim with his arm cannon, but Red Arrow had fired another arrow, and this one connected with his mechanical arm, unleashing a torrent of cold gas. Once the gas cleared, Arsenal's arm cannon was covered in ice.

Arsenal growled, and charged up the arm cannon for a full power blast, letting the heat melt the ice. Red Arrow had ducked out of sight, but Arsenal would find him. Of course, he was devoting all the remaining power in his cannon for this, so he basically had one shot left. And that would be all he would need.

* * *

Tempest ducked to the side as Typhoon's harpoon shot towards him. Tempest grabbed the metal cable and wrapped his foot around it, before stepping down. Typhoon was yanked forward, and fell flat on his face. He lifted his head as Tempest ran towards him. Tempest kicked Typhoon in the chin, and the blow lifted Typhoon up. Typhoon landed on his back and scrambled to his feet, pulling in the harpoon attached to the stump where his right hand used to be. The hook clicked into place. Typhoon lashed out with the hook, trying to slash Tempest's throat. Tempest blocked the blow, and jabbed at Typhoon's shoulder. Typhoon stabbed at Tempest, but Tempest knocked the blow aside and punched him in the face. Typhoon staggered back a few steps, then attacked with his hook again. Tempest dodged, and a blow that would've slashed his chest open instead opened a gouge in his left arm.

Tempest gasped in pain, and covered the wound with his hand, trying to slow the bleeding. Typhoon charged at him, and Tempest's eyes flashed. Water started pulling itself out of drains, and a huge torrent slammed into Typhoon, forcing him back. Typhoon got to his feet as the water blast ended, and saw that Tempest had pulled the water around himself, making it orbit him like rings. Typhoon reached out with his own powers over water, but instead of attempting to focus on the water Tempest was already manipulating, he targeted Tempest himself.

"Wh-what the?!" yelped Tempest as his right arm was yanked away from the gash on his left arm. He lost his concentration, and the water surrounding him fell down. An outside force started pulling him down, his arms and legs almost flailing around as he was brought into a kneeling position with his head tilted back, leaving his throat exposed.

Tempest tried to talk, but Typhoon was keeping his mouth shut tight. He struggled against Typhoon's control, and managed to regain control of his legs, standing up. His legs then froze in place as Typhoon tightened his focus. Typhoon then pointed his harpoon at Tempest's chest, and fired. Tempest tried to flinch away, but his head was immobilised by Typhoon.

A chunk of rock flew through the air, knocking the harpoon down. Typhoon turned around, and spotted Terra several metres away. Terra stomped the ground, and a boulder rose up. She then pushed her hands forwards, sending the rock hurtling towards Typhoon. Typhoon released Tempest from his control, and pulled the water seeping around Tempest towards him. He sent the water towards the boulder, and knocked the boulder aside. The young geomancer maintained her control over the rock, and looped it around behind Typhoon, and sent it flying towards his back. Typhoon realised what was happening too late, and the boulder caught him in the back, causing him to stagger forward. Terra kicked with her right leg, and a chunk of rock shot up and slammed Typhoon in the chin. To finish, Terra slammed the ground with her fist, sending a shockwave towards Typhoon. The shockwave sent Typhoon flying through the air, and he landed hard. The Atlantean tried to get to his feet, but his arms gave out and he collapsed unconscious.

Terra ran over towards Tempest, who had collapsed after Typhoon had freed him from his control.

"Garth, are you okay?" she asked as she knelt down next to him.

"I will be," he said, holding a hand over his left arm. The injured arm hung limply, and Tempest, inspired by his counterpart, was using his control over water on himself, in an attempt to slow his bleeding.

"What was he doing to you?" Terra asked.

"He was manipulating the water inside my body," said Tempest.

"He was bloodbending you?" asked Terra. She shuddered. "That's creepy."

"And pretty effective," said Tempest, as the amount of blood seeping out of his wound finally started to lessen.

Terra looked over Tempest's injury. "You should get that looked at. It looks pretty bad."

Tempest nodded. "Hurts like hell, too," he said. The Atlantean looked around, watching the Titans fighting their evil counterparts. "Have you seen an evil version of you yet?"

Terra shook her head. "I've seen evil versions of almost everyone else, though," she said. "I saw my brother fighting with his other self earlier; I'm going to go help him out."

"All right," said Tempest. "Be careful out there, okay?"

* * *

I was going to include a fight between Mas y Menos and their counterparts here, but I was really struggling for ideas for their fight, so I dropped that idea. They will appear in a later chapter, though.

The Tempest/Terra VS Typhoon fights were indeed influenced by Avatar: The Last Airbender. I kept the bloodbending at the people puppet stage, and didn't do anything graphic like_ ripping all the water out of Tempest's body, leaving him to shrivel up and die an ironic death_ (Have fun sleeping with that mental image).

Anyway, next chapter will feature more fight scenes. More hard work for me!

-ShortyBoss.


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